The Thomas Berryman Number is, without a doubt, the second worst book I have ever had the misfortune of reading.

Given that this is Patterson's first novel, it is evident that he had not yet fully developed his ability to translate his thoughts onto paper with finesse.

He writes in a manner that assumes the reader is already privy to his every thought, resulting in a narrative that appears to be mere snippets or excerpts from his mind.

Consequently, to the reader, the writing feels very incomplete and almost indecipherable.

I managed to finish the book only because I held onto the hope that the story would somehow improve as it progressed.

Additionally, I also wanted to be able to claim that I had read his very first novel.

However, in hindsight, it was a rather arduous task that did not yield the expected rewards in terms of a captivating and well-written story.

Overall, The Thomas Berryman Number serves as a reminder of the early stages of a writer's development and the potential pitfalls that can occur before they truly master their craft.

I was extremely excited when I finally got my hands on this particular book. I have long been a fan of both Alex Cross and Michael Bennet, and I mostly love reading James Patterson for the unique and engaging stories he usually has to offer. However, getting to read his debut novel brought about a different kind of excitement.

The book kicks off with a thrilling start. Three murders occur one after another, sending the officials into a frenzy. Everyone seems to be running around in circles or in the wrong direction, except for a reporter named Ochs Jones. Jimmie Horn is a well-known figure in town, and although his killer is shot on the spot, making it seem like an open and shut case, Jones is not convinced. Acting on a hunch, he interviews a patient at a mental hospital who has been ranting about an assassination plot and a hitman named Thomas Berryman since before the assassination of Jimmie Horn. The questions linger: Does Thomas Berryman really exist? What role did Bert play in all of this?

Frankly speaking, this book was somewhat of a letdown. It is evident that James Patterson has matured and improved significantly over time. His debut novel, however, is nowhere near the caliber of his other works. The plot had some good potential, and I did like the overall concept. But the pace was slow, and the narration felt disjointed. Additionally, there was nearly not enough action in the book – at least not as much as we have come to expect from a typical James Patterson novel. There were a few twists incorporated into the story that managed to keep me reading. However, I do think that the climax was not what the story had been building up to.

I do not believe I would recommend this specific book to anyone. However, I also would not stop anyone from picking it up either.

If the characters had been more fully developed, it would have given them a more vivid and lifelike quality, thereby making the reading experience more engaging. The story presented two timelines, and the constant skipping between them disrupted the flow of reading. Despite this, it remained an intriguing read, albeit with a slow pacing that somewhat diminished the overall thrill. The underlying story was indeed good, but the writing style could have been improved. There is clearly potential here, and I still had a certain liking for this book. However, it is evident that with some enhancements, the book could have been written in a much better way.

I think the majority of the reviewers below have more or less summed up this book accurately. If this were the very first book of Patterson's that I had ever read, I would never pick up another one of his works again. I was initially drawn in by the fact that it was Patterson's first novel and the enticing line that claimed "you are about to begin one of the classic American novels of suspense." However, if one could take the publishers to court over the blatant lies in that statement, there would most definitely be a class action lawsuit, and it would likely succeed.

The story is extremely disjointed, with some parts being very hard to follow. There are also a great many irrelevant aspects to the narrative that simply don't make sense. These elements do not contribute to the smooth flow of the story, and I often found myself skimming over pages just to get through it. Even so, I don't think I missed much. I believe I have an idea of how the ending was supposed to be, but there was no sense of satisfaction, and it failed to answer all the questions that the book had raised.

Unless you have a burning desire to be able to say that you have read his first novel (which was my main motivation, although I was also looking forward to the story), you really need to skip this novel. Seriously, you should pass. There are worse novels out there, but this one would definitely make a shortlist of the bad ones that I have read.

This was James Patterson's first book.

As I was reading it, I was completely confused about the whole thing. The plot seemed to be all over the place, and I had a hard time following what was going on.

If I had read this before any of his others, I don't think I would have read any of his other books! It was just so odd and didn't really capture my attention.

I'm not sure if it was because it was his first book and he was still finding his writing style, or if it was just a bad book. But either way, it didn't leave a good impression on me.

I'm glad I didn't stop reading his books after this one, though, because some of his other works are really great. But this first book will always be a bit of a mystery to me.

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NOT MY FAVORITE BOOK

I have always been a huge fan of James Patterson's books. His works usually grip me from the very first page and keep me engaged until the end. However, this particular book is an exception. It is one of the hardest books I've ever tried to get through, from start to finish.

The story started out extremely slow. There was a lack of excitement and momentum in the beginning, which made it a bit of a struggle to get into. And unfortunately, this slow pace continued throughout the entire book. It didn't pick up speed or offer any real surprises or twists to keep me interested.

I absolutely love reading. It is an essential part of my everyday life. I can't truly relax without reading a few pages before going to sleep, and I usually manage to finish a book within a day. But this book took me several days to complete. I was determined to finish it, though, as I always like to give every book a fair chance.

In the end, I have to say that I regret having purchased this book. It just didn't live up to my expectations. I'm sorry if this sounds harsh, but it's the truth. I still have a lot of respect for James Patterson as an author, and I'm sure he has many other great books out there. But this one just wasn't for me.

I think that if I hadn't fallen in love with James Patterson through his Alex Cross novels, I would have appreciated this one even more.

To be honest, while I did have an appreciation for most of the characters, there were a few that I simply didn't care for at all.

Moreover, the time line jumps in the story seemed a bit odd to me.

However, despite these drawbacks, the story itself was good. In fact, there were certain parts that I really enjoyed.

If you're a die-hard James Patterson fan, then this book is a must-read. After all, it is his early work, and you can clearly see the evolution and growth of his writing style.

It's really fascinating to witness how his skills have developed over the years.

Overall, although this book may not be perfect, it still has its merits and is worth checking out for Patterson fans.

A collection of words rather than a novel. It is bizarrely awful.

It seems as if the author just randomly threw together a bunch of words without any real thought or purpose. There is no coherence or flow to the text, making it extremely difficult to read and understand.

The choice of words is also quite strange, as if they were chosen for their shock value rather than for their meaning or relevance. It's almost as if the author was trying to be edgy and different, but ended up just being confusing and unappealing.

Overall, this is a prime example of what not to do when writing. It lacks any sort of substance or creativity, and is simply a jumbled mess of words that fails to engage the reader in any meaningful way.

This book is truly stupid.

I have no idea what it was really about other than the constant themes of murder and swearing.

To be honest, I really couldn't care less about it.

I only managed to finish reading it because it was part of a reading challenge.

The story seemed to lack any real depth or meaningful message.

The excessive use of violent and vulgar language just made it even less appealing.

I can't say that I gained anything from reading this book.

It was a waste of my time and I would not recommend it to anyone.

I hope that future books I read as part of this challenge will be more interesting and worthwhile.

This, I think, is his first book.

I have read about 25 pages and I don't understand anything of the story… There are indeed a few words used that I didn't immediately understand, but still. It's as if I don't know English anymore. Who is speaking? What is he talking about? I haven't been following the story from the first word…

I'm giving up on this book. It's a pity, because I do like his more recent work. Of which I have also read a few in English without problems.

Perhaps this first book was written in a style that is less familiar to me. Or maybe the subject matter is just too complex for me to grasp at the moment. I don't know. But one thing is for sure, I'm not going to waste any more time on it. I'll just move on to something else that I can enjoy and understand better.

It's a shame, really, because I was looking forward to reading this book. But sometimes you have to accept that certain things just aren't meant to be.

To me, this is undoubtedly James Patterson's worst book.

I have always been a great admirer of his writing style, but with this particular book, I find myself constantly struggling to just get through it.

The story seems to jump around haphazardly, making it difficult to follow and maintain a coherent narrative.

Moreover, the characters really come across as rather bland and uninteresting to me.

The only exception is the girlfriend of Berryman, who stands out and makes me curious to know more about her.

At this point, I have only 100 pages left to finish the book, but I simply can't take it anymore.

If you are a die-hard fan of Patterson's books, I would highly recommend that you skip this one. In my opinion, it is a huge disappointment.