THE POSTCARD KILLERS
One
Paris, France
“It’s very small,” the Englishwoman said, sounding
disappointed.
Mac Rudolph laughed, put his arm around the woman’s
slender neck, and allowed his hand to fall onto her breast.
She wasn’t wearing a bra.
“Oil on a wooden panel,” he said. “Thirty inches by
twenty-one, or seventy-seven centimeters by fifty-three. It
was meant to hang in the dining room in the home of the
Florentine merchant Francesco del Giocondo. But da Vinci
never got it finished.”
He felt her nipple stiffen under the fabric of the blouse.
She didn’t move his hand away.
Sylvia Rudolph slid up on the other side of her, her hand
easing its way under the woman’s arm.
“Mona Lisa wasn’t her name,” Sylvia said. “Just Lisa.
Mona is an Italian diminutive that can be taken to mean
‘lady’ or ‘her grace.’ ”
The woman’s husband was standing behind Sylvia, his
body pushed up against hers in the crowd. Very cozy.
“Anyone thirsty?” he asked.
Sylvia and Mac exchanged a quick glance and a grin.
They were on the first floor of the Denon wing of the
Louvre, in the Salle des États. Hanging on the wall in front
of them, behind nonreflective glass, was the most famous
portrait in the world, and the guy was thinking about beer?
“You’re right,” Mac said, his hand gently gliding down
the Englishwoman’s back. “It is small. Francesco del Giocondo’s
dining room table can’t have been very large.”
He smiled over at the woman’s husband.
“And you’re right, too. It’s time to drink some wine!”
They found their way out of the museum, down the modern
staircase toward the Porte des Lions, and stepped out
into the middle of a Parisian spring evening.
Sylvia inhaled deeply, breathing in the intoxicating mix
of exhaust fumes, river water, and freshly opened leaves, and
laughed out loud.
“Oh,” she said, hugging the Englishwoman, “I’m so glad
we met you. Honeymoons are all very well and good, but
you have to see a bit of the world, too, don’t you? Have you
had time to see Notre-Dame yet?”
“We only got here this morning,” her husband said.
“We’ve hardly had time to eat.”
“Well, we must do something about that at once,” Mac said.
“We know a little place down by the Seine. It’s wonderful,
you’ll love it.”
“Notre-Dame is fantastic,” Sylvia said. “One of the first
Gothic cathedrals in the world, strongly influenced by naturalism.
You’re going to love the South Rose Window.”
She kissed the woman on the cheek, lingering for a
second.
They crossed the river on the Pont d’Arcole, passed the
cathedral, and arrived at the Quai de Montebello just as
someone started playing a melancholy tune on an
accordion.
“Order whatever you like,” Mac said, holding the door
of the bistro open. “It’s on us. We’re celebrating your
honeymoon.”
Excerpt from THE POSTCARD KILLERS granted with permission by Little,Brown and Company, New York, NY. Copyright © 2010 by James Patterson.
The Postcard Killers
“NYPD detective Jacob Kanon is a man obsessed,” thinks Swedish journalist Dessie Larsson when he pays her a visit regarding a postcard mailed to her office. He insists it’s an announcement of a murder soon to be committed. Kanon should know. His daughter and her boyfriend were slaughtered in Rome. And there were others—in Paris, Frankfurt, Copenhagen—their throats similarly slashed, their naked bodies arranged in grisly mimicry of paintings depicted on the ominous cards heralding impending death.
The Postcard Killers is a gut-wrenching, heartstopping, action-packed thrill ride with stunning twists, the kind you don’t see coming until suddenly, they hit you from behind. The first arrives when we meet Sylvia and Malcolm Rudolph. Young, gorgeous and sexy, the couple has a seductive charm that proves irresistible to their victims. But what motivates these stone-cold killers? Patterson keeps the tension taut as we seesaw back and forth between the hunters, Kanon and Dessie—who find little to connect the murders other than the postcards—and the hunted. When the answer comes, it’s fast and furious, which is just what we’ve come to expect from Patterson, “the man who can’t miss” (TIME).
Hardcover Book : 432 pages
Publisher: Hachette Book Group Usa ( August 16, 2010 )
Item #: 13-112206
ISBN: 9780316089517
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 8.25 x 0.97inches
Product Weight: 15.0 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
I didn't think it was to bad 
January 01, 2011
thought it was a pretty good book. Way different than his other books i might say though.
Reviewer: Debbie W
HORRIBLE!!!!
December 30, 2010
I cannot believe how bad this book was- i couldnt even bring myself to finish it!!!
Really, really bad book. Save your money!!!!
Reviewer: jara m
predictable
December 27, 2010
I have been a huge Patterson fan for many years. He hasn't "been himself" for a while, but this book is perhaps his worst. Maybe it was the European setting, or maybe it is because he and his coauthor just didn't click. But, whatever the reason, this book was boring and predictable. I'll continue to read him, though, because I trust him to snap out of his slump.
Reviewer: Jd
POST CARD KILLERS
December 07, 2010
I enjoyed this book. It held my interest and was a good read.
Reviewer: Betty S
4 Stars
December 01, 2010
I enjoyed the book.
Reviewer: Liz
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