I picked up this novel with high expectations after the release of the movie and the adulation from writers such as Demille on the back of the edition proclaiming it "masterful". Despite a good story and pacing, however, I didn't find much about this novel to live up to the hype it has received by come. Many of the major characters, notably the "mysterious" FBI agent Alex Cross falls for and the children kidnapped, seemed undeveloped and hollow and didn't add anything compelling except to serve as filler characters. The serial killer featured was the lone high acclaim I have...reminiscent to the portrayal by Edward Norton of a killer in the movie Primal Fear, the antagonist in Along Came a Spider is compelling and intriguing, forcing the reader to make decisions that set up the later resolution. The actually "twist" ending, however, was disappointing to me as well. Most endings  have elements that were at least SOMEWHAT foreshadowed earlier in the novel. Patterson's ending, however, seemed to come out of left field and was completely arbitrary, with no connections to earlier in the story; in effect it didn't do the madman of the story justice. It isn't a bad read...but after Baldacci's The Winner, Along Came a Spider paled in comparison
I picked up this novel with high expectations after the release of the movie and the adulation from writers such as Demille on the back of the edition proclaiming it "masterful". Despite a good story and pacing, however, I didn't find much about this novel to live up to the hype it has received by come. Many of the major characters, notably the "mysterious" FBI agent Alex Cross falls for and the children kidnapped, seemed undeveloped and hollow and didn't add anything compelling except to serve as filler characters. The serial killer featured was the lone high acclaim I have... reminiscent to the portrayal by Edward Norton of a killer in the movie Primal Fear, the antagonist in Along Came a Spider is compelling and intriguing, forcing the reader to make decisions that set up the later resolution. The actually "twist" ending, however, was disappointing to me as well. Most endings  have elements that were at least SOMEWHAT foreshadowed earlier in the novel. Patterson's ending, however, seemed to come out of left field and was completely arbitrary, with no connections to earlier in the story; in effect it didn't do the madman of the story justice. It isn't a bad read... but after Baldacci's The Winner, Along Came a Spider paled in comparison