3 Days to Live


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
 Copyright © 2023 by James Patterson
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 First Edition: February 2023
 Grand Central Publishing is a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc. The Grand Central Publishing name and logo are trademarks of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
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 ISBN 978-1-5387-5274-6 (trade paperback) / 978-1-5387-41863 (large-print trade paperback) / 978-1-5387-52760 (ebook)
 LCCN is available at the Library of Congress.
 E3-20221221-JV-NF-ORI
 
 
 
 Contents
 
 Cover
 Title Page
 Copyright
 Dedication
 3 Days to Live: James Patterson and Duane Swierczynski
 
 Chapter 1
 Chapter 2
 Chapter 3
 Chapter 4
 Chapter 5
 Chapter 6
 Chapter 7
 Chapter 8
 Chapter 9
 Chapter 10
 Chapter 11
 Chapter 12
 Chapter 13
 Chapter 14
 Chapter 15
 Chapter 16
 Chapter 17
 Chapter 18
 Chapter 19
 Chapter 20
 Chapter 21
 Chapter 22
 Chapter 23
 Chapter 24
 Chapter 25
 Chapter 26
 Chapter 27
 Chapter 28
 Chapter 29
 Chapter 30
 Chapter 31
 Chapter 32
 Chapter 33
 Chapter 34
 Chapter 35
 Chapter 36
 Chapter 37
 Chapter 38
 Chapter 39
 Chapter 40
 Chapter 41
 Chapter 42
 
 Women and Children First: James Patterson and Bill Schweigart
 
 Prologue
 
 Several Days Earlier
 
 Chapter 1
 Chapter 2
 Chapter 3
 Chapter 4
 Chapter 5
 Chapter 6
 Chapter 7
 Chapter 8
 Chapter 9
 Chapter 10
 Chapter 11
 Chapter 12
 Chapter 13
 Chapter 14
 Chapter 15
 Chapter 16
 Chapter 17
 Chapter 18
 Chapter 19
 Chapter 20
 Chapter 21
 Chapter 22
 Chapter 23
 Chapter 24
 Chapter 25
 Chapter 26
 Chapter 27
 Chapter 28
 Chapter 29
 Chapter 30
 Chapter 31
 
 The Housekeepers: James Patterson and Julie Margaret Hogben
 
 Chapter 1
 Chapter 2
 Chapter 3
 Chapter 4
 Chapter 5
 Chapter 6
 Chapter 7
 Chapter 8
 Chapter 9
 Chapter 10
 Chapter 11
 Chapter 12
 Chapter 13
 Chapter 14
 Chapter 15
 Chapter 16
 Chapter 17
 Chapter 18
 Chapter 19
 Chapter 20
 Chapter 21
 Chapter 22
 Chapter 23
 Chapter 24
 Chapter 25
 Chapter 26
 Chapter 27
 Chapter 28
 Chapter 29
 Chapter 30
 Chapter 31
 Chapter 32
 Chapter 33
 Chapter 34
 Chapter 35
 Chapter 36
 Chapter 37
 
 Epilogue
 
 Chapter 38
 Chapter 39
 Chapter 40
 
 Discover More
 About the Authors
 James Patterson Recommends
 Raves for James Patterson
 
 
 
 
 Begin Reading
 Table of Contents
 
 
 
 
 RAVES FOR
 JAMES PATTERSON
 
 “Patterson knows where our deepest fears are buried… There’s no stopping his imagination.”
 —New York Times Book Review
 
 “James Patterson writes his thrillers as if he were building roller coasters.”
 —Associated Press
 
 “No one gets this big without natural storytelling talent—which is what James Patterson has, in spades.”
 —Lee Child, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Jack Reacher series
 
 “James Patterson knows how to sell thrills and suspense in clear, unwavering prose.”
 —People
 
 “Patterson boils a scene down to a single, telling detail, the element that defines a character or moves a plot along. It’s what fires off the movie projector in the reader’s mind.”
 —Michael Connelly
 
 “James Patterson is the boss. End of.”
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 “James Patterson is the gold standard by which all others are judged.”
 —Steve Berry, #1 bestselling author of the Colton Malone series
 
 “The prolific Patterson seems unstoppable.”
 —USA Today
 
 “Patterson is in a class by himself.”
 —Vanity Fair
 
 
 
 
 For a complete list of books, visit JamesPatterson.com.
 
 
 
 3 DAYS TO LIVE
 James Patterson and Duane Swierczynski
 
 
 
 CHAPTER 1
 MY LIFE FELT like a dream. I guess that happens when you elope, hop on a plane, drift off to sleep, and wake up in a foreign country.
 Adding to the dreamlike effect: my watch had decided to stop working somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, and not knowing the exact time was driving me a little crazy. My body was telling me it was the middle of the night, but the midday winter sun blazed bright over the historic center of Berlin.
 “Do you see a clock anywhere?”
 Kevin Drexel, my loving husband of eighteen hours, smiled and squeezed my hand. “You may have forgotten, but we’re on our honeymoon. No schedules, no cell phones, no plans, just us—remember?”
 “True. But if I knew it was… say, four o’clock, then we could check into the room. And I could take my shoes off already.”
 “The Adlon said the suite would be ready in a couple of hours. Let’s get the lay of land.”
 “Interesting choice of words,” I replied, raising my eyebrows. I slipped my arms around Kevin from behind and squeezed him tight. He turned to face me. As a woman who has always been on the freakishly tall side, it felt pretty amazing to have found a partner who a) was just as freakishly tall, and b) didn’t mind seeing eye-to-eye. Literally.
 “You know there’s something seriously wrong with you,” he said, bringing me in for a kiss.
 “Yet, you married me anyway.”
 “I sure did.”
 We’d left everything—our bags, jackets, my useless watch—to take a stroll down