Tick Tock by James Patterson & Michael Ludwig 387 pages

"Tick Tock" is the latest in the Michael Bennett series by James Patterson and Michael Ludwig. Detective Mike Bennett and his large family of adopted children are on a well earned vacation in Breezy Point, New York "almost on the beach". At the beginning of their second week of vacation Mike is called back to the city by his boss, the head of the Major Case Squad of the NYPD. A bomb had been found in a reading room of the New York Public Library causing the creation of a cross-jurisdiction task force to be led by Mike Bennett. The developing story is fast paced. There is no identifiable motive so no easily identifiable perpetrator. The next crime is the stabbing of a teen age girl. Then, next bombs go off at the outside venue of the morning talks shows for the three major affiliates. The crimes are linked by the criminal/criminals as he/they leaves notes for the police and even for Mike himself once he is seen on TV being interviewed by news reporters. Mike is also dealing with racism on Breezy Point as he drives to and from the City and his vacationing children. He is more attracted to Mary Catherine (his nanny) but FBI Agent Emily Parker becomes involved the the case and maybe Mike, too, on a more intimate basis. The action gets more exciting as Mike and the Task Force gather more evidence and start linking victims to possible criminals. One of the criminals is caught but the other escapes to carry out the final murder. In true James Patterson style there are many twists and turns in this story. The characters flow through the story and none are left behind.