Unlucky 13
Authors: James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
Contents
Part One: Save the Last Dance for Me
Part Two: Look Out. Ol’ Mackie’s Back.
Part Three: Red Sky in the Morning
When two dead bodies are found inside a wrecked car on the Golden Gate Bridge, Detective Lindsay Boxer doubts it will be anything as simple as a traffic accident.
The scene is more gruesome than anything she has seen before. It definitely wasn’t the crash that killed these people.
While Lindsay starts to piece this case together, she gets a call she wasn’t expecting. Sightings
of her ex-colleague-turned-ruthless-killer Mackie Morales have been reported.
Wanted for three murders, Mackie has been in hiding since she escaped from custody. But now she’s ready to return to San Francisco and pay a visit to some old friends …
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.
MAXINE PAETRO
is the author of three novels and two works
of non-fiction, and she is the co-author of more than a dozen books with James Patterson. She lives in New York with her husband.
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
)
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 • Hope to Die (
to be published November 2014
)
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
) • Gone (
with Michael Ledwidge
) • Burn (
with Michael Ledwidge, to be published September 2014
)
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 L.A. (
with Mark Sullivan
)
NYPD Red (
with Marshall Karp
) • NYPD Red 2 (
with Marshall Karp, to be published June 2014
)
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
) • Second Honeymoon
(
with Howard Roughan
) • Mistress (
with David Ellis
) • Invisible (
with David Ellis, to be published July 2014
)
Torn Apart (
with Hal and Cory Friedman
) • The Murder of King Tut (
with Martin Dugard
)
Sundays at Tiffany’s (
with Gabrielle Charbonnet
) • The Christmas Wedding (
with Richard DiLallo
) • First Love (
with Emily Raymond
)
MAXIMUM RIDE SERIES
The
Angel Experiment • School’s Out Forever • Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports • The Final Warning • Max • Fang • Angel • Nevermore
Confessions of a Murder Suspect (
with Maxine Paetro
) • Confessions: The Private School Murders (
with Maxine Paetro
)
Witch & Wizard (
with Gabrielle Charbonnet
) • The Gift (
with Ned Rust
) • The Fire (
with Jill Dembowski
) • The Kiss (
with Jill Dembowski
)
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
)
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
) • Middle School: Ultimate Showdown (
with Julia Bergen, to be published May 2014
) • Middle School: Save Rafe! (
with Chris Tebbetts, to be published July 2014
)
I Funny (
with Chris Grabenstein
) • I Even Funnier (
with Chris Grabenstein
)
Treasure Hunters (
with Chris Grabenstein
)
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
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For Suzie and John, Brendan, Alex, and Jack
KA-BOOM
ONE
IT WAS AN
ugly Monday just after noon. There had been no sign of sun so far, just a thick fog that had put the blocks to traffic around the Golden Gate. I was behind the wheel of the squad car, and Inspector Rich Conklin, my partner of many years, was in the seat beside me when Claire called my cell phone.
Claire Washburn is my closest friend, and also San Francisco’s Chief Medical Examiner.
This call was strictly business.
“Lindsay,” Claire shouted over the braying of car horns. “I’ve got two DBs in a single-car smash-up and I don’t know what the hell I’m looking at. If you and Richie are in the neighborhood, I could use another opinion.”
She gave me her location, and I told her we’d be there
as soon as weather and traffic permitted. I repeated to Rich what Claire had said and
turned the car around.
My partner is smart, steady, a glass-full type of guy, and on this particular day, he was pretty happy with himself.
He said, “Claire wants us to look at a traffic fatality?”
“She doubts it’s an accident.”
I followed Lincoln through the Presidio and past the Crissy Field Overlook toward the bridge as Conklin called Brady and told him we were answering Claire’s call.
He phoned Claire and said we were about eight minutes out, then picked up where he left off, asking my advice on his romantic dilemma.
“It’s Tina’s birthday. We’ve been together for two months,” he said. “So what do I get her that means ‘I like you a lot
so far
’?”