James Patterson - The Midnight Club

THE MIDNIGHT CLUB is the
novel I wrote just before
Along Came a Spider. Im
certain that both Alex Cross
and Sampson originated in
ideas I had while writing
this story. Its one of my
favorites, and I believe it
could make the best movie
of all my novels.

JAMES PATTERSON

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.

New York Daily News

HES UNBEATABLE Patterson proves himself master of the hair-raising thriller.

Buffalo News

PATTERSON JUGGLES TWIST AFTER TWIST WITH GENUINE GLEE.

San Francisco Chronicle

PATTERSON KNOWS WHAT HE IS DOING, AND HE KEEPS THE PEDAL DOWN ON THE ACTION AND SUSPENSE.

Washington Times

JAMES PATTERSON KNOWS HOW TO SELL THRILLS AND SUSPENSE IN CLEAR, UNWAVERING PROSE.

People

PATTERSON IS A MASTER.

Newark Star Ledger

PATTERSON LAYS OUT A TRAIL OF UP-AND-DOWN PLOT TWISTS that makes it nearly impossible to figure out the truth before he wants you to.

Associated Press

JAMES PATTERSON BRILLIANTLY EXPLORES DARK CREVICES OF THE ABERRANT MIND .. WITHROLLER COASTER THRILLERS.

Ann Rule

A MUST-READ AUTHOR reaches out and grabs you from the opening page and doesnt let go until the last drop of blood.

Providence Journal

PATTERSONS A MASTER OF SUSPENSE THRILLERS twists and turns arrive in roller coaster fashion. Patterson is diabolical.

Nashville Banner

EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED FROM JAMES PATERSON. Patterson confounds even mystery veterans with spine-tingling twists and turns that leave readers hanging upside down with their hearts racing.

Columbus Dispatch

PATTERSON NOT ONLY CREATES A DIZZYING FLIGHT OF SUSPENSE AND VIOLENCE, but exposes the explosive elements in todays society that make the world vulnerable to frightening events.

Baton Rouge Magazine

Readers who have not discovered James Patterson just dont know what they are missing, PATTERSON IS, WITHOUT A DOUBT, ONE OF THE MOST TALENTED AND EXCITING AUTHORS OF CRIME FICTION TODAY.

Lake Worth Herald

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

Chicago Tribune on Cat & Mouse

CAT & MOUSE IS A PULSATING GAME . THE ACTION IS FAST AND FURIOUS. The pages turn in a blur. You might just finish this in one sitting. Its that kind of book.

Rocky Mountain News

Patterson delivers THE SWIFTLY PACED FARE THAT HAS MADE HIM A CHAMP OF THE CHARTS.

Publishers Weekly on Cat & Mouse

CROSS, A BRILLIANT HOMICIDE COP, IS ONE OF THE GREAT CREATIONS OF THRILLER FICTION.

Dallas Morning News on Jack &Jill

CAPTIVATING A FAST-PACED THRILLER FULL OF SURPRISING BUT REALISTIC PLOT TWISTS.

San Francisco Examiner on Jack & Jill

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

Los Angeles Times on Kiss the Girls

PATTERSON HIT THE BALL OUT OF THE PARK WITH ALONG CAME A SPIDER. KISS THE GIRLS IS EVEN BETTER.

Dallas Morning News

A WILD RIDE ALEX CROSS IS TO THE 90S WHAT MIKE HAMMER WAS TO THE 50S.

Denver Post on Kiss the Girls

A FIRST-RATE THRILLERFASTEN YOUR SEAT BELTS AND KEEP THE LIGHTS ON!

Sidney Sheldon on Along Came a Spider

HAS TO BE ONE OF THE BEST THRILLERS OF THE YEAR.

Clive Cussler on Along Came a Spider

TERROR AND SUSPENSE THAT GRAB THE READER AND WONT LET GO. JUST TRY RUNNING AWAY FROM THIS ONE.

Ed McBain on Along Came a Spider

The Thomas Berryman Number

Season of the Machete

See How They Run

Black Friday (formerly Black Market)

The Midnight Club

Along Came A Spider

Kiss The Girls

Hide & Seek

Jack & Jill

Miracle on the 17th Green (with Peter de Jonge)

Cat & Mouse

Cradle & All

When The Wind Blow

Pop Goes The Weasel

JAMES PATTERSON won the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award. He is the author of four #1 bestsellers featuring Detective Alex Cross.

Patterson, among the best novelists of crime stories ever, has reached his pinnacle.

USA TODAY

A string of #1 blockbusters from Along Came a Spider to Cat & Mouse. Now read James Pattersons THE MIDNIGHT CLUB.

A stunningly brilliant psychopathic killer who has skillfully eluded the police from London to Paris to New York. A beautiful woman journalist suddenly in grave danger. An unorthodox New York detective whose motive for stopping the killer couldnt be more personal or emotional.

Patterson joins the elite company of Thomas Harris and John Sanford in concocting riveting and truly unique serial killers, while creating sleuths who are heroic and fascinating.

SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER

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

WARNER BOOKS EDITION

Copyright 1989 by James Patterson

All rights reserved.

Warner Vision is a registered trademark of Warner Books, Inc.

Warner Books, Inc.

Hachette Book Group

237 Park Avenue

New York, NY 10017

Visit our website at www.HachetteBookGroup.com

Originally published in hardcover by Little, Brown and Co.

First Warner Books International Paperback Printing: August 1998

First Warner Books U.S. Paperback Printing: June 1999

ISBN: 978-0-446-50596-3

First eBook Edition: July 2007

This is for J., for P., and for N., who told me what its like to be in the Chair

Its for my father and mother, Charles and Isabelle

Night of the Detective

Long Beach, New York, March 1986

THE NIGHT THAT John Stefanovitch was shot couldnt have been colder, or the stars more dazzling in high winter skies.

Shortly past midnight, Stefanovitch tramped down the creaking, solidly frozen boardwalk at Long Beach. He was humming Surfer Girl, one of those awful beach-town ditties that could usually bring a smile to his lips.

Stefanovitchs eyes stayed sharply focused. They very carefully swept the silent, gritty beachfront neighborhood.

The Grave Dancer was nearby. Stefanovitch felt it all through his body. It was a second sense he had sometimes, almost a paranormal gift. The scumbucket he had been tracking for almost two years was so close it made his skin crawl.