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The Last Days of John Lennon

‘I totally recommend it’ LEE CHILD

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Brought to you by Penguin.

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'Incredibly tense and thriller-like . . . I totally recommend it' LEE CHILD

'The dialogue is punchy, cinematic . . . we get inside the mind of Patterson's villain, the delusional Chapman, through periodic chapters from his point of view as he works up the courage to pull the trigger on Lennon' GQ

'Pure Patterson: fast-paced, no-frills' SUNDAY TIMES
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The greatest true-crime story in music history.

A GLOBAL SUPERSTAR

In the summer of 1980, ten years after the break-up of the Beatles, John Lennon signed with a new label, ready to record new music for the first time in years. Everyone was awestruck when Lennon dashed off '(Just Like) Starting Over'. Lennon was back in peak form, with his best songwriting since 'Imagine'.

A DANGEROUSLY OBSESSED FAN

In the years after Lennon left the Beatles, becoming a solo artist and making a life with Yoko Ono in New York City, Mark David Chapman had become fixated on murdering his former hero. He was convinced that Lennon had squandered his talent and betrayed his fans. In December 1980, Chapman boarded a flight from Hawaii to New York with a handgun stowed in his luggage. He was never going home again.

A MURDER THAT STUNNED THE WORLD

Enriched by exclusive interviews with Lennon's friends and associates, including Paul McCartney, The Last Days of John Lennon is a true-crime drama about two men who changed history. One whose indelible songs enliven our world to this day, and the other who ended the music with five pulls of a trigger.

© James Patterson 2020 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

Art & Literature Artists, Architects & Photographers Entertainment & Celebrities Murder True Crime Celebrity New York Crime

Critic reviews

Incredibly tense and thriller-like . . . I totally recommend it (Lee Child)
The dialogue is punchy, cinematic . . . we get inside the mind of Patterson's villain, the delusional Chapman, through periodic chapters from his point of view as he works up the courage to pull the trigger on Lennon
Pure Patterson: fast-paced, no-frills
We do get the details of Lennon's last days. But we get plenty, too, about his life before that, from childhood onwards. There's also a distinctly thriller-like structure - to go with the thriller-like prose - as Lennon's full story is interspersed with increasingly sinister scenes of Chapman arriving in New York . . . Patterson's admiration for Lennon is clear. Nonetheless, the thoroughly researched biography does remind us again what a contradictory and often troubled character he was.
All stars
Most relevant
Maybe change the title

This book is a lot of the back story of the Beatles rather than what the title suggests, don't get me wrong I enjoyed it but the accents were quite dodgy

Somewhat misleading

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A revealing account of Mark Chapman's state of mind that lead him to kill Lennon. A murder story interwoven with John's Beatles journey. .. not a fictional fantasy but real rock n' roll tragedy.

Real not Fantasy

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Well done James Patterson Your writing is very Real And description of the Death of John Lennon is very important and real

Brilliant Read

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I enjoy this book going from forming to split and then the the murder of John

John Lennon

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I’ve read so many Beatles books that I wasn’t sure I was going to enjoy what the title suggested might be a rather detailed dredge through Lennon’s last days. Absolutely not. This is a great book for stepping you through all of the key highlights of the Beatles and post Beatles years and is woven skilfully with the days leading up to his murder. In the end I found this thoroughly enjoyable and as a bit of a Beatles “fanatic” I really didn’t expect this to bring anything new, but it a actually did.

Much better than the title suggests

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