ALONG CAME A SPIDER is another of those novels that leaves me equivocal - one thumb up, and one thumb down. I hate that.
Dr./Detective Alex Cross, a Washington DC forensic psychologist/gumshoe and his partner, John Sampson, are assigned to investigate a double kidnapping with the FBI and Secret Service. The victims are Michael and Maggie, the former the young son of the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, and the latter the young daughter of a movie star. Very early on, the reader knows the identity of the perp, a brilliant serial killer named Gary Soneji, and Michael's fate. As Gary continues his murderous swathe across the landscape, all wonder. How do we catch this guy, and where's Maggie?
The best thing about this thriller is Cross, a world-weary widower who loves his kids and his grandmother, and who's not afraid to be, in the honorable tradition of Eastwood's Dirty Harry, a thorn in the side of his boss and the mayor. You gotta love the guy. Also, the Maggie character was endearing, but author James Patterson gave her too little press time.
The main problem with the book is that, at 502 pages in paperback, it's about 50 too long. By the novel's end, Gary's essential evilness and the de rigueur plot twist have been diluted out by an overabundance of other bad guys and the relationship between Cross and Secret Service agent Jezzie Flanagan, which Patterson develops ad nauseam. Moreover, for the apparent sake of maintaining the potential for a series, a major thread is left hanging. It's as if the author, or his editor, didn't know when to quit. Less would have been better.
The movie version of ALONG CAME A SPIDER was recently released, starring Morgan Freeman. From the trailers I've seen, the film adaptation seems to be a different story entirely. (Gee, what a surprise!) Besides the opportunity to observe the great actor Freeman, I'll want to see if the output of some Tinseltown scriptwriter can force both my thumbs in the same direction. Up or down, I don't care. I just want closure.
ALONG CAME A SPIDER is another of those novels that leaves me equivocal - one thumb up, and one thumb down. I hate that. Dr. /Detective Alex Cross, a Washington DC forensic psychologist/gumshoe and his partner, John Sampson, are assigned to investigate a double kidnapping with the FBI and Secret Service. The victims are Michael and Maggie, the former the young son of the U. S. Secretary of the Treasury, and the latter the young daughter of a movie star. Very early on, the reader knows the identity of the perp, a brilliant serial killer named Gary Soneji, and Michael's fate. As Gary continues his murderous swathe across the landscape, all wonder. How do we catch this guy, and where's Maggie? The best thing about this thriller is Cross, a world-weary widower who loves his kids and his grandmother, and who's not afraid to be, in the honorable tradition of Eastwood's Dirty Harry, a thorn in the side of his boss and the mayor. You gotta love the guy. Also, the Maggie character was endearing, but author James Patterson gave her too little press time. The main problem with the book is that, at 502 pages in paperback, it's about 50 too long. By the novel's end, Gary's essential evilness and the de rigueur plot twist have been diluted out by an overabundance of other bad guys and the relationship between Cross and Secret Service agent Jezzie Flanagan, which Patterson develops ad nauseam. Moreover, for the apparent sake of maintaining the potential for a series, a major thread is left hanging. It's as if the author, or his editor, didn't know when to quit. Less would have been better. The movie version of ALONG CAME A SPIDER was recently released, starring Morgan Freeman. From the trailers I've seen, the film adaptation seems to be a different story entirely. (Gee, what a surprise! ) Besides the opportunity to observe the great actor Freeman, I'll want to see if the output of some Tinseltown scriptwriter can force both my thumbs in the same direction. Up or down, I don't care. I just want closure.