Pattern Crimes

Foreign Detective, Book 2

By: William Bayer

Narrated by: Dick Hill

It begins when the strangely marked body of a young prostitute is found just outside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. A similarly disfigured corpse of an American nun turns up. Then an Arab boy. As the list of victims grows, their only apparent connection is the bizarre markings on their bodies, it appears that Israel is facing its first serial murder case.

David Bar-Lev, chief of the Pattern Crimes Unit of the Jerusalem police, is not so sure. A tough yet sensitive investigator with a powerful intelligence and a querying mind, he begins searching for a pattern that will explain the apparently random killings. At first the disorder is overwhelming, the case unfathomable. But then, as David probes deeper into this particular pattern crime, he is not so sure he wants to understand it. Pieces emerge that suggest that this time the key may lie within his own life. During the course of his investigation he must uncover and confront many painful secrets:

• The mysterious behavior of his father, Avraham, a retired psychoanalyst;
• The tragic suicide of his brother, Gideon, a talented fighter pilot;
• The hidden past of his beautiful Russian lover, the cellist Anna;
• And the possibility of corruption within the Jerusalem police and the ultra-secret General Security Services (Shin Bet).

But despite the pain of these and other revelations, David probes on until he finally glimpses his astonishing solution - for, as one cop says of David Bar-Lev, "It is not enough for him to investigate. David has to understand."

The Jerusalem of Pattern Crimes is not the idealized Holy City of the guidebooks. Depicted as the capital of an angry, anguished, torn-up nation, a city of prostitutes, narcotics dealers, lusting journalists, ruthless politicians, and zealots of every stripe, it becomes here an arena for a remarkable story of crime and punishment.

This is a book about patterns – in love, in relationships, in politics, in art, in death. And always at the center is David Bar-Lev, one of the most memorable characters in recent crime fiction, relentlessly searching for the pattern that will unlock his case - the pattern he must uncover in order to clarify his vision… of himself, his family, and the country that he loves.

With Pattern Crimes, William Bayer raises the detective novel to a new level of excellence. In the best-selling tradition of his previous novel, Switch, he has created a powerful story of psychological suspense and one of the strongest, most intriguing novels of recent years.

©1989 William Bayer (P)2011 David N. Wilson

Critic reviews

"William Bayer has the reader panting to keep up with the pace he sets in ‘Pattern Crimes.’ The novel’s virtues: its intriguing intellectual hero, the multi-layered humanity he encounters in his investigations, and his fascinating observations on a Jerusalem no casual tourist gets to see." ( The New York Times)

"Bayer has got the real stuff: a pounding narrative line; real people you can identify with; dialogue that snaps with authority even as it advances the exposition; a riveting sense of locale. Bayer is the new king of the crime fiction heap. At a minimum he has written one unputdownable book." ( San Francisco Examiner)

"A richly dramatic and thoughtful police procedural, a sort of ‘Gorky Park’ set in Jerusalem. Provocative and intelligent entertainment." ( Kirkus Reviews)

Patterns everywhere

Pattern Crimes is an interesting mix of an Israeli detectives hunt for a serial killer while delving into mysteries surrounding his own family. The Jerusalem of the book, even with its unique religious background, comes across to this reader as a big city with big city problems for cops. It is a very well-written police procedural offerring glimpses into Israeli life
I read on kindle voyage while listening to the audible book for several hours and I am glad I did as some of the Israeli names would have tripped me up had I not seen them in print. The kindle book is poorer for not having a table of contents and not having x-ray enabled. X-ray, in particular, would have been very helpful to check on past actions of a character.
The narrator, Dick Hall, did an outstanding job with the characters and the accents involved.
I bought the kindle book and received the audible book in exchange for an honest review through Audio Book Blast.

Pleasantly surprised

What made the experience of listening to Pattern Crimes the most enjoyable?

This book has a lot going on and really moves along, which was such a relief, given that the locale had considerable potential for mouldering into religiosity. Normally I don't even like Dick Hill's performing style, but it seemed to work well this time. I think he must have become so absorbed in the story that his reading swept along with a smoother tread than usual. However . . . apparently this was the second book in the "foreign detective" series, and now I've had to buy a Kindle to get the first one. I don't like to visually read things (bad eyes) so had to get a Kindle that's supposed to be able to read text; but that's not the same as having it performed. Most of the readers these days don't just read, and often add a lot to our enjoyment. Anyway, I hope William Bayer keeps it coming!

It's Complicated

I do have one, sort of, gripe with the narrator. There are 1/2 dozen characters with Russian accents. The problem is that in the narration, there is very little distinction between the characters. Since it probably would have been nearly impossible to provide enough differentiation between the various voices to make each individual. I think that the only answer would have been to use different narrators.

As to the story, I enjoyed it immensely. Of course, I'm relatively familiar with Israeli, Middle East, and Jewish history and the variety of belief systems within the spectrum of Judaism. As to the politics and alliances within Israel, I don't completely understand them, but then I'm confident that even the journalists that comment on these sectors, to say nothing of the various governmental analysts (no matter which country) have no true handle on what goes on. In other words, it could easily be amazingly confusing for many readers.

The title captured me

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Lost me with all the characters

What could William Bayer have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Stick to the pattern crimes to the solution

Would you listen to another book narrated by Dick Hill?

I enjoy Dick Hill.

Did Pattern Crimes inspire you to do anything?

Nothing

Any additional comments?

I received this book free from the author if I wrote a review.

full of intrigue and twists

Firstly, not that while this is “Foreign Detectives Book 2” you do not need to have read book 1 to follow this story. I don’t believe there are any characters that carry over form book 1 to 2.

With the backdrop of cold war era politics, continued fallout of the 1973 Israeli war, and middle eastern religious tension we are introduced to David Bar-Lev, chief of the Pattern Crimes unit of Jerusalem's police. As multiple murders with similar MOs start appearing Bar-Lev believes he is looking at one of Israel’s first serial killers.

With the story set (and written) in the late 1980’s the story leans fairly heavily on recent events of the time and the political and religious tensions of the times. Writing this some25 years later it is hard for me to know how accurately this depicts both the times and the city of Jerusalem. But then again I wouldn’t tell you how accurate the world of Harry Bosch is to early 90’s LA (whose audiobooks are also narrated by Dick Hill). Accurate or not, the book is intriguing and continually twisting.

The book is well written and well-paced, keeping the story flowing while still allowing us to feel like the characters are 1 dimensional cutouts. The character, places and events feel fleshed out.

Dick Hill is enjoyable as a narrator. I really enjoy his deep bass filled voice for narration. He also provides different voices and accents (many Russian or Israeli) for characters, allowing each to be differentiated and easily followed..

Pattern Crimes

This was a very good book.There were a few storylines and I found it a bit long,but it was good. Narration by Dick Hill was very good.I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Fabulous!

I'm the author of this novel, so of course I'm prejudiced. But I have to say that Mr. Hill's dramatic reading was a revelation! I am incredibly grateful to him for his magnificent narration, complete with accents, wonderful pauses, and totally compelling story-line. He makes my words sound better than I remember. Best of all, he makes this novel, of which I am quite proud, come alive! Thank you, Dick Hill!

Puzzling Pieces

Interesting to have one set in Jerusalem, with the Chief of pattern designs in the police. Many murders in different countries with these markings. To find there is a lot more behind them. Different and narration was good. Given audio for my voluntary review