Patterson’s audio adventure

As I type this, I’m listening to a man with a Masterpiece Theatre accent read the prologue to James Patterson’s new novel, “The Jester.” It was simple. All I did was access the site www.buzztone.com/jester , click on Listen and waited a few seconds for the information to load on the RealOne Player that I have installed on my PC.

I use the free RealOne Player. There’s no need to pay for anything. And what you’ll get is the first nine chapters of Patterson’s novel (which he co-authored with Andrew Gross), and a new chapter every day until the book’s release on Sunday. As I type this, the site tells me the book will be available in four days and 12 hours.

For those of you who don’t have, or don’t want, the player, the chapters are available in text form, too. Parental note: The novel is violent and has some fairly strong language.

By the way, as I’ve already noted, Patterson will show up in Spokane on Sunday, March 9. He’ll read and sign copies of his new book at 1:30 p.m. at Auntie’s Bookstore, then 4 p.m. he’ll be at the Valley Mall Barnes & Noble. Until then, I’m going to enjoy listening to the gentlemanly Brit read Patterson’s tale from the First Crusade.