Watchlist

Harold Middleton #1-2

by Jeffery Deaver, M.J. Rose (Introduction), Linda Barnes

Watchlist is a unique collaboration by twenty-one of the world’s greatest thriller writers including Lee Child, Joseph Finder, David Hewson, S.J. Rozan, Lisa Scottoline, and Jeffery Deaver, who conceived the characters and set the plot in motion. In turn, the other authors each wrote a chapter and Deaver then completed what he started, bringing each novel to its startling conclusion.
The Chopin Manuscript Former war crimes investigator Harold Middleton possesses a previously unknown score by Frédéric Chopin. But he is unaware that, locked within its handwritten notes, lies a secret that now threatens the lives of thousands of Americans.
The Copper Bracelet Harold Middleton returns in this explosive sequel to The Chopin Manuscript as he’s drawn into an international terror plot that threatens to send India and Pakistan into full-scale nuclear war.

Note: Print edition of the two original audio serialized novels,
The Chopin Manuscript and The Copper Bracelet.

Genres: Thriller, Mystery, Fiction, Suspense, Mystery Thriller, Short Stories, Ebooks

404 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

#1 international bestselling author of over thirty novels and three collections of short stories. His books are sold in 150 countries and translated into 25 languages. His first novel featuring Lincoln Rhyme, The Bone Collector, was made into a major motion picture starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie. He's received or been shortlisted for a number of awards around the world.

Reviews

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an ok book but near the end it really got dragged out. The last 5 or 6 chapters took a long time. Every chapter was written by a different author and it just didn't quite make it!

[Tammy Chase · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jeffery Deaver is one of my favorite authors. I am half in love with Lincoln Rhyme and I really like his Catherine Dance series. Having said that, I know I was taking a chance an a novel written by several authors. No matter how great. Deaver put together a group of top-selling novelists to collaborate on Watchlist. Deaver wrote the first two chapters and last one while each writer took one chapter in between to expand the story.
What entailed, for me, was an average thriller. I have a feeling it would have been more engrossing had I not been distracted by the undertone of competition, (or maybe it was nervousness), by the authors.
They each tried to keep the flow of the story going and not accentuate their respective writing styles but I felt that each was trying too hard. Perhaps trying not to be judged by their peers. I'm not sure where the awkwardness came from but I felt it and could not fully enjoy the story.

[Matt · Rating 1 out of 5]

i am 75% thru this one (reading on my Kindle)... very tough to follow the plot line since you must get used to a different authors voice and style every chapter. I have been very tempted to just stop reading (more than once) and I still might!

=============

added 6-27-11

Uncle... I've had enough already!

okay that's it. Another new chapter and another lousy author transition. "It's all I can stands... I can't stands no more..." to quote Popeye. It's too much to take. It's like reading a schizophrenic story only with multiple authors instead of personalities. Too many authors killed this book for me. The plot was good... if only there had been just one writer telling it.

I'm giving it one star--- because I give any book that I can't finish one star.

Unfinished.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'll be the first to admit I'm not a great fan of the thriller genre, and this book didn't convince me I was missing much. Quite possibly it wasn't the genre's fault, but the fact that this is a gimmick book. What's the gimmick? Gather a bunch of thriller writers (the only names I recognized were Jeffrey Deaver and Lisa Scottoline, but I'm sure the others are well-known to thriller fans) and have them add chapters to the stories.

While the plot hung together as much as one would expect from a "you can't trust this person/motive/fact because it's really some twist you don't see coming" genre, each chapter does have a different flavor because of the different authors. Some had more dialogue, some more description (And seriously, can we call a halt to identifying leather as "buttery soft"? I get it. Actually, I got it, about ten years ago. Leather = buttery soft. Let's move on.), some were more action-based. That slight difference is, I'm sure, in place so that fans of Gayle Lynds or Peter Spiegelman can have that moment of recognition when "their" writer appears.

As far as plot goes, they (this is two novellas in one volume) seemed pretty average and only there to really hold the gimmick together.

ARC provided by publisher.

[Cheryl Masciarelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

At the request of The Book Trib, a HC copy was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest review
From the Book's Jacket:
Watchlist: Two powerful novellas featuring the same thrilling cast of characters in one major suspenseful package
Synopsis: Harold Middleton, former crimes of war investigator takes the reader on a non-stop journey around the world in both story lines. The first novella he is on the hunt and then hunted for a never before seen Chopin manuscript. But is there a secret in this never before seen composition? In the second novella, once again Harold Middleton brings us to faraway lands in search of the "Scorpion" and what is the secret of "The Copper Bracelet"?
My Thoughts: One word..Amazing. Written by Jeffrey Deaver and twenty-one (21) other best selling authors. Each chapter written by a different writer, weaving and interweaving their own style of writing and story telling with others, for a dynamic plot.
My Opinion and Rating: A thriller with brilliant writing that takes the reader on a journey to faraway places spanning the globe, taking the reader into the world of espionage and terrorism. Incredible concept. Rating 5

[Sez · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really great concept, but I grew bored.

I liked how you could be engrossed in one chapter and put it down the next (due to the different authors), but that also made it so much easier to give up on.

I turned to a proper Jeffery Deaver, instead.

[Gene · Rating 3 out of 5]

another book from great thriller writer, into two serial thrillers

good reading

[Albert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazingly coherent to have been written collectively by so many well known authors. I hope we see more of Harry Middleton and the Volunteers.

[Jim Pozenel · Rating 1 out of 5]

After listening to a radio interview with Jeffery Deaver, I thought that the concept for this book was really interesting and might be worth reading. I was able to get the book from our library system and got a brand new copy. I felt lucky to get it so quickly.

Was I ever wrong! I've read "thrillers" before, some good, some not. Both stories in this book were such a chore reading. I found the stories so ridiculous that I was eventually bored beyond belief. Normally I don't have a problem suspending belief for the sake of the story, but this was just too much. I was hoping the second story was going to be better than the first, but unfortunately, it was worse.

If this type of project is attempted again, by any group, I will have to pass. I found some of the writers to be very amateurish, while others not bad. The problem is that they all went along with the story line, regardless of how bad it was. I expect that they were excited about being part of this experiment and signed contracts ahead of time. But the resulting stories will not do much to enhance their reputations.

[Cheryle · Rating 2 out of 5]

On the surface, a good idea. In reality, not so much.

Gather a group of big-name mystery writers and have them collaborate on a book - each providing a chapter and furthering the story. Unfortunately, it was all too clear that the voices changed with each chapter, causing a loss of "flow." The second part was better than the first, but I hope they don't try it again. If they do, I'll have to be really bored to pick it up!

[Barry who enjoys well-written thrillers, mysteries , & espionage & loathes romance, horror & supernat · Rating 1 out of 5]

The idea to have various, excellent writers each pen a chapter seemed like it would produce either a masterpiece or a disaster. It did the latter. I found the book so hopelessly confusing that I put it book before making it through five chapters of the first novela. It was so complicated that the reader, apparently, needs a PhD to follow it.......wait a minute, I have a PhD and I couldn't follow it. 'nuff said.

[Carrie]

I had high hopes for this book - it looked so neat and the main writer is from Durham. Several thriller novelists took turns writing chapters. I got about 3/4 through and decided I have better things to do & read. I got really tired of the F word and other things. The plot jumped around a lot and I just didn't care enough. Oh well!

[Marcie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another Kindle freebee. I liked the idea of different authors writing each chapter. But sometimes I think that it made the book feel pretty choppy. You could tell the chapters were all written by different people. It was a spy type thriller. It was okay, but I just couldn't get that into the story. Each chapter seem to be way too overloaded with information and action. Just an okay book.

[Jennifer Swanson · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting to see how each author added their own twist and turn to the plot - enjoyed it

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Middleton is an interesting character,but doesn't hold a candle to Deaver's Lincoln Rhyme.

[David Dunlap · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3½ stars, largely for the first book.) This volume contains two thrillers, each one written serially by a number of different authors of the genre. The first, "The Chopin Manuscript," deals with a serial killer who has an interest in a rare musical manuscript, stolen and hidden by the Nazis in WWII. Harold Middleton, who has become a music professor following his military career (and a more clandestine one, seeking war criminals to bring them to justice), has been asked to evaluate a purported work by Chopin. He believes it to be a forgery...but finds something amiss with the way the music is written. Meanwhile, people around him find themselves targets of a deadly assassin...and Middleton himself falls under suspicion by the authorities. -- The pace of this story is breathtaking. It is, as one might expect, a bit 'clunky' at the seams, as one author succeeds the previous one; hairpin twists abound, but the tension is amped up: one can never tell if one writer's 'darling' will become the next one's victim. There was some confusion in my mind about the role of a second manuscript (purportedly a hitherto unknown 28th Mozart piano concerto) has to the Chopin, but...never mind! There is a highly theatrical conclusion to the story that wraps things up rather satisfactorily. -- The second book, "The Copper Bracelet," is more of the same. Col. Middleton is back with some of his colleagues from the previous caper. Here the plot has something to do with explosives, a Kashmiri independence movement, a new dam on the border of India and Pakistan, a possible nuclear reactor, and the threat of world war. -- Nothing quite exceeds like excess, though. 'The Copper Bracelet' has TOO many twists, TOO many characters, TOO many deaths. I found the whole something of a narrative mess, although I was kept wondering who the next victim of the shadowy Scorpion might be. -- Those who enjoy thrillers need not hesitate.

[Dollie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Until I read this book, I’d never read a murder-mystery in which every chapter was written by a different author. The only two authors I'm familiar with were Jeffrey Deaver and Lee Child. I love their Lincoln Rhymes and Jack Reacher characters, so I was sure I would enjoy this book. There are two different stories – The Chopin Manuscript and The Copper Bracelet. Both stories involve the same main characters – Harold Middleton, his adult daughter, Charley and his team, The Volunteers. The Volunteers are world peace keepers. Harold Middleton is their leader, a former war crimes investigator, who is also a music expert. He believes the Chopin Manuscript may be a fake, a code. Lots of mayhem, death and destruction follow Middleton, his family and his team as they investigate what the manuscript really is. The Copper Bracelet is also a story with lots of action that involves the politics of India, Pakistan and Kashmir. I learned a lot about that area from this story because I’d never read anything involving these countries before. As the character ‘Wiki’ Chang says, to me, Kashmir is a Led Zeppelin song. There are several countries trying to influence events in this region and Middleton and his group have to find out what they are planning before thousands of people are killed. There was lots of action, musical knowledge, world history and world travel in both stories. I liked the characters very much and was impressed with how seamlessly these authors wove these stories together.

[Sherry Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Watchlist: Two Serial Thrillers in One Killer Book is a page-turner plot devised by Jeffery Deaver, who then chose twenty one of the greatest thriller authors to each write a chapter. The first story, The Chopin Manuscript, flows seamlessly into the second, The Copper Bracelet.

In The Chopin Manuscript, Harold Middleton finds a previously unknown score by Frédéric Chopin. He is unaware that the manuscript contains a dangerous secret hidden in Chopin's handwritten notes that threatens the lives of thousands of Americans. He reunites a group, the Volunteers, that once pursued war criminals, to protect the manuscript, to discover the secret, and to keep it out of the hands of those who would use it for their deadly plan.

In The Copper Bracelet, Harold Middleton and the Volunteers return to pursue a terrorist group that plots to destroy the tenuous peace between India and Pakistan and to throw the world into nuclear war. The group races to find a devious terrorist called the Scorpion and to stop the plot to destroy the world's governing and economic systems.

Each author stays true to their unique writing style as they create a seamless, action-packed story of suspense and intrigue. They introduce new characters and fill each chapter with unexpected twists and turns. Once you start this book, it's almost impossible to put down.

This is a secular book and there is a smattering of profanity and some violence. I highly recommend Watchlist to anyone who loves fast-paced, action-packed stories.

[Fred · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting process in which 25 successful writers of Thrillers each write a chapter in one or both stories within this book. Jeffrey Deaver starts and ends both stories and I wondered while reading exactly how the process really worked. Was there a basic outline of the story with a set of main characters? I'm afraid the system of writing is not ever made clear but the talent of the writers brings about two fast paced international intrigues. There are numerous supporting characters in the story that come and go at a rapid pace. When I say "go" I mean die. Some are in and out in just one or two chapters. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the book and two stories although I preferred the first over the second.

[Simrun · Rating 1 out of 5]

The novel was written by an array of different authors; which meant that at times it was engaging, but dragged in other places. There seemed to be inconsistencies in the story, I think a symptom of having too many cooks in the kitchen.

I wasn't a fan of the clichéd characters and stereotypes of those from other countries. Sometimes it reads as if it was written by someone writing purely based on exaggerated stereotypes rather than as writers who had travelled the world or interacted with a diverse range of people.

The execution of revealing easter eggs and revealing shocking revelations could have been revealed better, or in a clearer way - I didn't get that satisfying sense of understanding and I had to backtrack a few times to contextualise things.

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very interesting, well done book. It was billed as two serial Thrillers. At first I read that at two cereal killers, you know like Cherios and Grape Nut Flakes. (Ignore my poor attempt at humor). But it really is a rather unique sort of kind of book. It is written by a number of well known authors, each writing a chapter of the story. It actually flows very well, all things considered. It gives you the opportunity to read something by an author you might not have read before. There are two Novellas in the book, and they kind of fit together.

[John Worthington · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was written by 21 thriller writers and I felt that each writer was trying to add their own piece to the story. Each chapter added new characters to the story and it wasn't until the last 1/3 of the book that I put it all together. The plot is about a Harold Middleton and his race to find the people/groups who are trying to start a nuclear war between India and Pakistan. It is worth reading .

[Gayle L. Vincent · Rating 2 out of 5]

No

I do a great deal of reading all kinds of stories (other than science fiction). I got through the first story but didn’t really enjoy it. The second story....got three chapters in and then flipped flipped and flipped some more until I got to the end. These stories seemed to jump all over the place. I’m sure all these authors enjoyed writing these stories but I didn’t enjoy them. I do read the books by most of these authors and enjoy them.

[Sheila Soprovich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two short stories involving the same main characters, but written by more than a dozen writers. As you would expect from Jeffrey Deaver and Lee Child, the body count and violence is high. But it is a fast paced ride where you really want to find out what happens next. I found the first "short" story better than the second one - the music references were fun and the transitions between writers flowed better.

[Connie LaRocco · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed all the twists and turns in the plot. The last 150 pages kept me from doing anything until I finished the book. Thanks to this being a book collaborated on by several authors, I have now been introduced to a few that I had never heard of before. I look forward to reading some of their books in the future.

[Jennifer Gillis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the first half of this book, but I just couldn't finish it, it just wasn't for me. I liked Harry and his team but I just felt like the first half was over entire book that way ok. The second half felt like an entire second book and it just didn't interest me enough to read it. I might go back and try again at a later date.

[Jen J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting concept to have various authors write a chapter of an ongoing story - with some you can instantly pick up the difference, others seem to flow seemlessly.
Two quite different stories - one focussed on music 'The Chopin Manuscript'; the other, 'The Copper Bracelet' more on terror - but both fast-paced with each character adding different skills to the mix. Lots of twists and turns

[Ben Reay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Taking a group of internationally renowned authors, giving the a story arc and getting each on to write a separate chapter should be a total jumbled mess. But somehow this actually flows well and works. A really interesting writing experiment that actually succeeded with a much better story than you might logically expect.

[Barry White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Utterly unpredictable to the end! Plenty of twists and turns, a good fun read!

I recommend it to anyone that likes a good thriller. Not sure I cared much for the Brit, but suppose he was necessary for the ending!

[Robert Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

+++A fanciful tale of a private group of investigators usually or often unarmed working in the most dangerous locations in the world and the most dire circumstances trying to save the world from itself. And often succeeding but not without many lives lost, bodies damaged and minds warped.+++