Lennon lore: Five new books about the Beatle on the anniversary of his death, including one ...

Of the five, only one — with James Patterson’s name slapped on the cover — reads like a money-grabbing misfire. While Kenneth Womack’s “John Lennon 1980: The Last Days in the Life” is the standout, to varying degrees four are worth reading. As a group, you might say, they passed the audition.

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“The Last Days of John Lennon,” by James Patterson, with Casey Sherman and Dave Wedge

Patterson’s brand is violent crime, so he and his collaborators start the book inside the mind of killer Mark David Chapman as he journeys to New York. This tasteless tactic is exacerbated by the rest of the book, starting with the bait-and-switch title. The book recaps the Beatles story in short, punchy sentences in short, punchy chapters. It often strikes false-sounding notes when presuming to be inside the minds of the Fab Four, but it might have passed as a CliffsNotes biography were it not for the cross-cutting to Chapman’s thoughts and actions as he closes in on his date with infamy.

Source: Yvonne Abraham/bostonglobe.com

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