Bennett 06 - Gone
Authors: James Patterson
Contents
Also by James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge
Forced into hiding from a mass murderer seeking vengeance, Detective Michael Bennett must decide whether to stay and protect his family, or hunt down the man who is hunting them.
When Bennett arrested Manuel Perrine, he thought he had brought an end to the drug cartel boss’s reign of terror and would get justice for the murder of his best friend. But then, during the trial, Perrine escaped.
In a bloody shoot-out, Bennett killed Perrine’s wife. Now he wants nothing more than to make Bennett suffer, to make him pay.
The whole family are moved to a safe-house in California. But as Perrine’s attacks on US soil become more vicious and more daring, it’s clear there is a war coming.
No one, anywhere, is safe.
JAMES PATTERSON
is one of the best-known and biggest-selling writers of all time. He is the author of some of the most popular series of the past decade – the Alex Cross, Women’s Murder Club and Detective Michael Bennett novels – and he has written many other number one bestsellers including romance novels and stand-alone thrillers. He lives in Florida with his wife and son.
James is passionate about encouraging children to read. Inspired by his own son who was a reluctant reader, he also writes a range of books specifically for young readers. James is a founding partner of Booktrust’s Children’s Reading Fund in the UK. In 2010, he was voted Author of the Year at the Children’s Choice Book Awards in New York.
MICHAEL LEDWIDGE
is the author of ten novels, including seven
New York Times
bestsellers co-authored with James Patterson. He lives with his wife and three children in Connecticut.
ALSO BY JAMES PATTERSON
DETECTIVE MICHAEL BENNETT SERIES
Step on a Crack (
with Michael Ledwidge
)
Run for Your Life (
with Michael Ledwidge
)
Worst Case (
with Michael Ledwidge
)
Tick Tock (
with Michael Ledwidge
)
I, Michael Bennett (
with Michael Ledwidge
)
ALEX CROSS NOVELS
Along Came a Spider
Kiss the Girls
Jack and Jill
Cat and Mouse
Pop Goes the Weasel
Roses are Red
Violets are Blue
Four Blind Mice
The Big Bad Wolf
London Bridges
Mary, Mary
Cross
Double Cross
Cross Country
Alex Cross’s Trial (
with Richard DiLallo
)
I, Alex Cross
Cross Fire
Kill Alex Cross
Merry Christmas, Alex Cross
Alex Cross, Run
Cross My Heart (
to be published November 2013
)
THE WOMEN’S MURDER CLUB SERIES
1st to Die
2nd Chance (
with Andrew Gross
)
3rd Degree (
with Andrew Gross
)
4th of July (
with Maxine Paetro
)
The 5th Horseman (
with Maxine Paetro
)
The 6th Target (
with Maxine Paetro
)
7th Heaven (
with Maxine Paetro
)
8th Confession (
with Maxine Paetro
)
9th Judgement (
with Maxine Paetro
)
10th Anniversary (
with Maxine Paetro
)
11th Hour (
with Maxine Paetro
)
12th of Never (
with Maxine Paetro
)
PRIVATE NOVELS
Private (
with Maxine Paetro
)
Private London (
with Mark Pearson
)
Private Games (
with Mark Sullivan
)
Private: No. 1 Suspect (
with Maxine Paetro
)
Private Berlin (
with Mark Sullivan
)
Private Down Under (
with Michael White
)
Private LA (
with Mark Sullivan, to be published January 2014
)
STAND-ALONE THRILLERS
Sail (
with Howard Roughan
)
Swimsuit (
with Maxine Paetro
)
Don’t Blink (
with Howard Roughan
)
Postcard Killers (
with Liza Marklund
)
Toys (
with Neil McMahon
)
Now You See Her (
with Michael Ledwidge
)
Kill Me If You Can (
with Marshall Karp
)
Guilty Wives (
with David Ellis
)
Zoo (
with Michael Ledwidge
)
NYPD Red (
with Marshall Karp
)
Second Honeymoon (
with Howard Roughan
)
Mistress (
with David Ellis
)
NON-FICTION
Torn Apart (
with Hal and Cory Friedman
)
The Murder of King Tut (
with Martin Dugard
)
ROMANCE
Sundays at Tiffany’s (
with Gabrielle Charbonnet
)
The Christmas Wedding (
with Richard DiLallo
)
FAMILY OF PAGE-TURNERS
MAXIMUM RIDE SERIES
The Angel Experiment
School’s Out Forever
Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports
The Final Warning
Max
Fang
Angel
Nevermore
DANIEL X SERIES
The Dangerous Days of Daniel X (
with Michael Ledwidge
)
Watch the Skies (
with Ned Rust
)
Demons and Druids (
with Adam Sadler
)
Game Over (
with Ned Rust
)
Armageddon (
with Chris Grabenstein
)
WITCH & WIZARD SERIES
Witch & Wizard (
with Gabrielle Charbonnet
)
The Gift (
with Ned Rust
)
The Fire (
with Jill Dembowski
)
The Kiss (
with Jill Dembowski
)
MIDDLE SCHOOL NOVELS
Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life (
with Chris Tebbetts
)
Middle School: Get Me Out of Here! (
with Chris Tebbetts
)
Middle School: My Brother Is a Big, Fat Liar (
with Lisa Papademetriou
)
Middle School: How I Survived Bullies, Broccoli, and Snake Hill (
with Chris Tebbetts
)
I FUNNY
I Funny (
with Chris Grabenstein
)
I Even Funnier (
with Chris Grabenstein, to be published December 2013
)
TREASURE HUNTERS
Treasure Hunters (
with Chris Grabenstein
)
CONFESSIONS SERIES
Confessions of a Murder Suspect (
with Maxine Paetro
)
Confessions: The Private School Murders (
with Maxine Paetro, to be published October 2013
)
GRAPHIC NOVELS
Daniel X: Alien Hunter (
with Leopoldo Gout
)
Maximum Ride: Manga Vol. 1–7 (
with NaRae Lee
)
For more information about James Patterson’s novels, visit
www.jamespatterson.co.uk
Or become a fan on Facebook
FATHER AND SON
IT WAS THREE A.M.
on the button when the unmarked white box truck turned onto the steep slope of Sweetwater Mesa Road and began to climb up into the exclusive Serra Retreat neighborhood of Malibu, California.
Majestic mountain peaks rising to the left
, thought Vida Gomez as she looked out from the truck’s passenger seat.
Nothing but moonlit ocean to the right.
No wonder so many movie stars lived here.
As if the sights matter
, Vida thought, tearing her eyes off the million-dollar view and putting them back on the screen of the iPhone in her lap. What was up with her? She never got distracted on a job. She took a calming breath. She seriously needed to buckle down. Taking her eye off the ball here would not be prudent. Not tonight.
She was in the midst of typing a text when out of the corner of her eye she noticed the driver trying to look down her shirt again. No wonder she was a little off her game, she thought with a muffled sigh. The new, pudgy driver that the cartel had sent at the last minute was incompetence walking on two legs. That was just like them to send her some fat-assed chump for “training” at the last minute. All he had to do was drive, and apparently, he couldn’t get even that done.
