List $29.98

Written by James Patterson & Andrew Gross - Audio book performed by Billy Campbell - Unabridged Fiction - 5 CASSETTES - 7 hours

Publisher, Time Warner Audiobooks (July 2005)

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The beach novel of 2005 is here - a sizzling summer thriller from the author of the #1 bestseller The Beach House.

The danger isn't in the water.

Working as a lifeguard at a Florida resort, Ned Kelly meets a woman he is wild about, the woman of his dreams. It feels perfect in every way - except that she is used to caviar and Manolo Blahniks, and he is used to burgers and flip-flops. She is a guest at the luxurious hotel - he lives above a garage.

So when Ned's cousin offers to cut him in on a rich deal he's been commissioned to execute, Ned can't turn him down. The plan is simple, just a fast break-and-enter. The risk is high, and the reward is even greater - $5 million. But on the night of the heist, something goes devastatingly wrong. Who will save the lifeguard?

Ned walks away from his job, his town, and the woman he's fallen in love with. Runs away, actually, knowing that only velocity and secrecy can save his life. But who is pursuing him? The FBI? Whoever sabotaged the heist? Or is it all somehow tied into his new love - and his oldest enemies?

About the Author: James Patterson is one of the top-selling novelists in the world today. His debut novel, The Thomas Berryman Number, won the Edgar Award for the best first mystery novel. It was published by Little, Brown in 1976 when he was just twenty-seven years old, after being turned down by more than two dozen other publishers.

He has since written a string of major national bestsellers that includes the seven books in the series featuring detective/psychologist Alex Cross -- Along Came a Spider, Kiss the Girls, Jack & Jill, Cat & Mouse, Pop Goes the Weasel, Roses are Red and Violets are Blue-- as well as Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas, Cradle and All, When the Wind Blows, and Hide & Seek. There are currently two books in the bestselling Women's Murder Club series, 1st To Die and 2nd Chance.

Paramount Pictures' feature film adaptation of Kiss the Girls, starring Morgan Freeman as Alex Cross, was a box office hit in 1997. Morgan Freeman reprised the Cross role in the film adaptation of the first novel in the series, Along Came a Spider in 2001. NBC bought the rights to 1st To Die with plans to produce a four-hour miniseries. Miracle on the 17th Green, a novel co-written with Peter de Jonge, was also made into a television movie, starring Robert Urich.

In addition to writing novels, Mr. Patterson served as chairman of J. Walter Thompson, North America from 1990 to 1996. He began his advertising career as a junior copywriter with the company in 1971 and went on to become the youngest executive creative director and youngest chief executive officer in the company's history. He made his mark at the agency by creating award-winning campaigns for Kodak, Burger King, Toys R' Us, Bell Atlantic, Bristol-Myers and others. He collaborated with advertising colleague Peter Kim to produce the nonfiction bestseller The Day America Told the Truth.

Patterson grew up in Newburgh, New York. He graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in English from Manhattan College and summa cum laude with an M.A. in English from Vanderbilt University.

James Patterson lives in Palm Beach County, Florida, with his wife and their young son.

About the Performer: Billy Campbell studied acting at the Players Workshop of Second City in Chicago, and first appeared on Broadway in the Roundabout Theatre's 1992 production of Hamlet. He starred in the ABC series Once and Again, and appeared in Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City. Big screen credits include Enough, with Jennifer Lopez, Disney's Rocketeer, and Gods and Generals, where he portrayed General Pickett.