James Patterson - 1st to Die

Little, Brown and Company

New York Boston London

The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

Copyright 2001 by James Patterson

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

Cover design by Jackie Merri Meyer

Cover photo by William S. Helsel/Tony Stone

Little, Brown and Company

Hachette Book Group

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New York, NY 10017

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The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.

Second eBook Edition: January 2011

ISBN: 978-0-759-52454-5

PATTERSON BOILS A SCENE DOWN TO THE SINGLE, TELLING DETAIL, THE ELEMENT THAT DEFINES A CHARACTER OR MOVES A PLOT ALONG. Its what fires off the movie projector in the readers mind.

Michael Connelly, author of A Darkness More Than Night

THE MAN IS THE MASTER OF THIS GENRE. We fans all have one wish for him: Write even faster.

Larry King, USA Today

HIS CLEVER TWISTS AND AFFECTING SUBPLOTS KEEP THE PAGES FLYING.

People (Page-Turner of the Week)

DELIVERS A SHARP PUNCH.

Chicago Tribune

THAT RAPID-FIRE, IN-YOUR-FACE, YOUD-BETTER-KEEP-READING-OR-ELSE FORMAT WILL MAKE YOU FINISH 1ST TO DIE IN ONE SITTING (barring World War III, a 9.1 earthquake or the Ebola virus).

Denver Rocky Mountain News

PATTERSON KNOWS WHERE OUR DEEPEST FEARS ARE BURIED THERES NO STOPPING HIS IMAGINATION.

New York Times Book Review

Pattersons prose style is smart powering the plot along smoothly Works to keep readers glued tight right to the end. A WALLOPING GOOD RIDE.

Buffalo News

[A] NEAT TRICK OF AN ENDING.

Janet Maslin, New York Times

A clever plot with enough LAST-MINUTE REVELATIONS TO KEEP YOU GUESSING.

Entertainment Weekly

JAMES PATTERSON WRITES HIS THRILLERS AS IF HE WERE BUILDING ROLLER COASTERS. He grounds the stories with a bare-bones plot, then builds them over the top and tries to throw readers for a loop a few times along the way.

Associated Press

A SLICK, TAUT THRILLER Patterson keeps the pace moving at top speed. 1st TO DIE is a darn good book.

Orlando Sentinel

A good story with a murderer as twisted as any Patterson has createdand AN ENDING THAT WILL TAKE READERS BY SURPRISE.

Newark Star-Ledger

POLISHED, BRISKLY WRITTEN ENTERTAINMENT DELIVERS THE SPINE-TINGLY GOODS.

Sunday Oregonian

A SURE BET FOR A BESTSELLER.

Cleveland Plain Dealer

HES DONE IT AGAIN CLEVER KICKOFF TO A NEW SERIES A GLEAMING MACHINE OF ANOVEL Patterson isnt afraid to reach as a writer.

Publishers Weekly

If you want togaspscare yourself silly, GRAB JAMES PATTERSONS LATEST THRILLER.

Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinal

PATTERSON, WHO FIRST HOOKED CRIME-THRILLER FANS WITH HIS SERIES OF ALEX CROSS NOVELS, DOESNT MISS A BEAT. The plot moves at breakneck speed Patterson manages a fine balance and he keeps the reader guessing right up to a scary double-twist ending.

Memphis Commercial Appeal

PATTERSON SHOWS HES 2nd TO NONE Patterson catches us again with book in hand and fingers turning those pages just as quickly as we did for other favorites, Along Came a Spider, Pop Goes the Weasel, and Kiss the Girls.

Oakland Press

SOLID, THREE-DIMENSIONAL CHARACTER new comers to his work will be enthralled.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

ONE OF THE MOST CREATIVE AND SADISTIC KILLERS SINCE HANNIBAL LECTER There are surprises in store right up to the last page.

BookPage

PATTERSON AGAIN PROVES HIMSELF A MASTER OF THE CRAFT Such a great book: every time you think youve got it all figured out, you realize the killer is still a step ahead.

Providence Sunday Journal

PATTERSON HAS KICKED OFF HIS NEW SERIES IN STYLE A page-turner in the classic sense of the term.

Baton Rouge Sunday Advocate

PATTERSON KEEPS UP THE SUSPENSE UNTIL THE VERY LAST PAGE and will have readers looking forward to the second installment in the series.

Booklist

READERS WLL ENJOY THE HEART-PUMPING PLOT AND ROOT FOR THE LADIES TO SUCCEED.

Midwest Book Review

HIS MANY FANS WILL BE WELL PLEASED WITH THIS FIRST BOOK OF A NEW SERIES FEATURING FOUR COURAGEOUS AND INTELLIGENT WOMEN.

Roanoke Times

THE RELENTLESS VELOCITY is guaranteed to hook fans of the bestselling Patterson.

Kirkus Reviews

PATTERSON IS A TERRIFIC STORYTELLER moves along at a rapid pace.

Winston-Salem Journal

Master of the serial killer genre, Patterson again keeps us on edge right to the last page. LETS HOPE THE CLUB CONTINUES TO MEET.

Sunday Oklahoman

JAMES PATTERSON DOES EVERYTHING BUT STICK OUR FINGER IN A LIGHT SOCKET TO GIVE US A BUZZ.

New York Times

WHEN IT COMES TO CONSTRUCTING A HARROWING PLOT, AUTHOR JAMES PATTERSON CAN TURN A SCREW ALL RIGHT. James Patterson is to suspense what Danielle Steel is to romance.

New York Daily News

TOUGH TO PUT DOWN TICKS LIKE A TIME BOMB, ALWAYS FULL OF THREAT AND TENSION.

Los Angeles Times

AS GOOD AS A THRILLER CAN GET WITH KISS THE GIRLS, PATTERSON JOINS THE ELITE COMPANY OF THOMAS HARRIS AND JOHN SANFORD.

San Francisco Examiner

FORTUNATELY PATTERSON HAS BROUGHT BACK HOMICIDE DETECTIVE ALEX CROSS Hes the kind of multilayered character that makes any plot twist seem believable.

People

Captivating A fast-paced thriller full of surprising but realistic plot twists CROSS IS ONE OF THE BEST AND MOST LIKABLE CHARACTERS IN THE MODERN THRILLER GENRE.

San Francisco Examiner

QUICK AND SCARY.

New York Daily News

FAST PACED THE PROTOTYPE THRILLER FOR TODAY.

San Diego Union-Tribune

A RIDE ON A ROLLER COASTER WHOSE BRAKES HAVE GONE OUT.

Chicago Tribune

CROSS IS ONE OF THE BEST PROTAGONISTS OF THE MODERN THRILLER GENRE, AND ONE OF THE MOST LIKABLE.

San Francisco Examiner

FAST AND FURIOUS IN THE PATTERSON PANTHEON OF VILLAINS, SHAFER IS QUITE POSSIBLY THE WORST.

Chicago Tribune

PATTERSON KNOWS WHERE OUR DEEPEST FEARS ARE BURIED THERES NO STOPPING HIS IMAGINATION.