London Bridges (Alex Cross)
by James Patterson
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Book Summary Information
Author: James PattersonEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-10-01
ISBN: 0446613355
Number of pages: 416
Publisher: Vision
Book Reviews of London Bridges (Alex Cross)
Book Review: Lite on Police Work,
Summary: 2 Stars
The Alex Cross series by James Patterson started out incredibly strong with a couple of excellent novels to the start the series in "Along Came a Spider" and "Kiss the Girls." These novels were truly exceptional when it came to being edge of the seat thrillers, page turners, and plot twisters. They were a standard by which I and many others judged other novels in this genre.
As the Cross series continued, the quality of the novels began to decline. For one, Cross is supposed to be a detective. However, as this series has progressed, he has done less and less detective work. He usually just follows leads until he happens upon the villain, and then Cross is praised as a major hero. Second, the plot twists, for which this series use to be famous for, have become very contrived. Instead of that "I can't believe I didn't see that coming feeling," or "man, was I fooled" sensation, the plot twists frequently leave me saying, "that was absolutely ridiculous."
Many of these very flaws have found their way into "Londond Bridges." This novel picks up where "Big Bad Wolf" left off. Some sort of Russian mad man has created a criminal empire, is capable of unspeakable cruelty, and has more criminal plans to execute. Cross, formerly of the Washington P.D. and now with the FBI, has been tasked with tracking down the Wolf.
This novel, like the others in the series, switches back from first to third person story telling. When the chapters focus on Cross, they frequently are told in first person from Cross's point of view. When other characters are central to the storytelling, then the narrative switches to third person.
This is not necessarily a bad thing, but in the later chapters, the third person omniscient narrator lies to the reader! To be clear, the narrarator doesn't provide clues and lets the reader jump to their own conclusion. The narrator deliberately tells the reader something that isn't so. Then, the narrator attempts to turn this into a plot twist a few pages later. This is extremely aggravating. Many, if not most, of the plot twists in this novel just come off flat. To a certain degeree, you are left asking "who cares?" or thinking to yourself "he couldn't possibly thought he got him this time."
The redeeming quality of this book is that Patterson doesn't pull punches. Several monuments, buildings, and bridges throughout the world are targetted by the Wolf. Don't expect last second rescues. In addition, Cross's personal life has more and more problems thrown at it. The resolution of those problems doesn't happen easily, but at least Pattrson doesn't let Cross off easily.
My opinion is that perhaps Patterson has spread himself a little too thin across all his projects. He just posted in his blog that he has five, and maybe six, novels to come out next year. It appears the focus needed to make a great Cross novel is lacking. I've heard good things about "Mary, Mary," the next novel in the series, so I suspect I will pick that one up. However, it is potentially my last Cross, if not Patterson, novel.
Overall: 2.5 stars
Summary of London Bridges (Alex Cross)
Two of the greatest villains James Patterson has ever created in one book! Minutes after soldiers evacuate a Nevada town, a bomb completely destroys it. On vacation, FBI agent Alex Cross gets the call: the blast was perpetrated by the Wolf. A supercriminal and Cross's deadliest nemesis, the Wolf threatens to obliterate major cities, including London, Paris, and New York. Then evidence reveals the involvement of a ruthless assassin known as the Weasel. Could these two dark geniuses be working together? Now with just four days to prevent an unimaginable cataclysm, Cross is catapulted into an international chase of astonishing danger - and toward the explosive truth about the Wolf's identity, a revelation that Cross may not survive.Literature & Fiction Books
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