Pop Goes the Weasel
by James Patterson
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Book Reviews of Pop Goes the Weasel
Book Review: As Bad as it Gets
Summary: 2 Stars
A couple of days ago I tried to read this book. I think it's the worst thing I tried to read in my life. I feel sorry for the trees, used to print this thing.
Theoretically, it's a thriller. There is a maniac killer, and the uber-detective Alex Cross has to take him. But it's amazingly badly written, and the plot has holes the size of Godzilla.
There are naked bodies being found all other Washington. They are murdered in different ways. But the detective feels that they are connected. Why? 'Cause there is no ID on any of the bodies! Ugh, I don't quite get it. They are naked - what kind of ID he wants to find?? First the victims are black women. Then, a white male shot to death is found. But as he is not only naked, BUT ALSO HAS NO ID ON HIM - the cops know it has to be the same killer! Then they find two dead prostitutes murdered in their flat (all the other bodies were dumped in abandon buildings, bushes, etc.) But, there is no ID on the bodies, so it's the same killer, of course! I don't know, maybe it's common for people in Washington to carry some ID on them even in their homes while being naked. If it's so, then it makes some sense. But not much. Having no ID on the body is too little to realistically link murders with comepletely different MO and no pattern in the victims - are we to believe that when cops find a shot white male, they will instantly connect it to a stabbed black prostitute?
The language is even worse - when he asks his girlfriend to marry him, she answers -
`I can't give you an answer. You just came back from Boston. You were on another horrible, horrible murder case. I can't take that. Your life was in danger again. That terrible madman was in your house. He threatened your family. You can't deny any of that.'
- I'm not sure people talk like that. It sounds like some 50s noir movie at its worst. And then, there is my favourite phrase, when Cross comes home to here his children, and his Granny singing spirituals:
'Damon, Jannie, and Nana were singing `Sit Down You're Rockin'de Boat' in the kitchen. The show tune was music to my ears and other essential parts of my anatomy.'
Well, maybe it's just me, but it took me some time to get that he was probably talking about his heart and not what I though at first.
As I didn't finish this (I got only about 1/3 of the novel), I give it a benefit of doubght, and give two stars, providing that it may have gotten way better later on. But still it's so below any book by the likes of Jeffrey Deaver or John Sandford.
Book Review: Another flawed plot
Summary: 3 Stars
Shafer, The Weasel, is another of James Patterson's sadistic, super-intelligent killers who is way, way bigger than life. If you can accept such villains, this isn't all that bad, although it does drag a little in the middle and doesn't come to a very satisfying finale. Super villains are a staple of a certain type of fiction: There are Fu Manchu, Lex Luthor in Superman, Ming the Merciless in Flash Gordon, etc. But those are campy fun or comin book nasties, and we can accept them for that. Mr. Patterson crosses the line from comic book and would have us to accept the realism of The Weasel and his ilk. It doesn't work.
The totally un-necessary flaws are also what drag this down. At one point, Cross arrests The Weasel, after he has murdered a police officer. The Weasel has the victim's blood on his trousers. At the trial, the defense attorney implies that it was Cross's blood. A simple DNA test would have shown that the blood on Cross was his own, and that the blood on The Weasel was not Cross's but rather the victim's.
The second and third flaws: at the trial of The Weasel, the defense case seems to have been presented before the prosecution's. Most readers of this book will know that couldn't be. Moreover, Cross was called first by the defense attorney, with no mention that Cross was a hostile witness, although he is a policeman and was the arresting officer. Apparently the prosecution never called him at all--although they surely would have. But then the prosecution did not present their case first, which muddles everything.
Writers have some latitude in re-arranging facts for dramatic purposes, but not to this extent. Readers today are too savvy as a result of Court-TV and the many programs about forensics, DNA, etc.
This is pretty much standard fare for a Patterson/Cross novel. We are told a great deal more about Cross's love life than is significant or than I cared to know. His love life is not to be envied since his significant others keep getting in big trouble. We are also over-exposed to his so very cute kids and Nana.
Perhaps if the author spent a little more time on writing the books, some of the problems could be avoided--but who am I to advise him? His formula serves its purpose: as many books as he puts out each year, they become best sellers and make him rich. Literature his books are not: cash cows they are. Even Shakespeare can't spend his grand reputation.
Book Review: First Disappointment from Patterson
Summary: 3 Stars
After having tore through 'Pop Goes the Weasel' in three days, you would think I would have been really pleased with the fifth installment of James Patterson's Alex Cross series. Unfortunately, I feel let down.'Pop Goes the Weasel' tells the story of a British diplomat, Geoffrey Shafer, that is engaged in a brutal Role Playing Game with three other MI6 (British Secret Agents) from around the world. He develops a taste for killing and can't stop. This is not a spoiler, you find this all out in the first twenty pages of the book.
One of the great things about the preceding four novels in the series is that there are some great plot twists that really make the reader sit back and rethink what is going on. In each of the four previous novels, at some point I thought I had it all figured out, just to be stunned by a new development. That didn't happen in 'Pop Goes the Weasel'. Everything kind of moves along in a straightforward fashion. There aren't many surprises.
Another complaint is that Patterson didn't have Cross do much to solve this case. It seemed like everyone knew who did, but there was nothing they could do about it, which was partly due to the fact that Shafer had diplomatic immunity and was above the law most of the time. Still, Cross is suppose to be a world reknowned profiler, but those skills got virtually no use in this novel.
My last problem with the novel is that it all seemed to have been done before--by Patterson himself. I felt as if I were re-reading the earlier novels over again. The villain makes things personal with Cross. Cross gets strung out and thinks about killing. Even the social commentary about the racism of the police department is getting a bit tiresome.
Overall, this was just a subpar effort by Patterson. There was some monumental developments in the Cross family, and interesting as those were, I'm more interested in developments in the plot. Despite my complaints, I am still glad I read this novel. Patterson is an expert at keeping the reader's attention with snappy dialogue, short to the point chapters, and pop culture references. I just wish he could have come up with something new to surprise the reader. I'd recommend this book to readers new to the series, since it wouldn't seem like a retread, and to those readers that have read everything from the Cross series in order so far. I hope the next novel in the series is a bit fresher.
Book Review: Slippery foes and heartbreaks galore, the usual mayhem if you're Alex Cross...
Summary: 5 Stars
The fifth installment of the amazing series doesn't disappoint, if anything it makes me want to get back into the complex lives of these strong characters the moment that last page is turned. These books have a tendency of sucking me in hard and fast and making my mind wander around the story line even when I'm not reading it. I think there are sixteen or so books now in this series and I am always trying my best not to peak at what they are about, spoilers galore can happen, so I try my best to know as little as possible about each before I start reading it. James Patterson did a great job of creating the Cross family, making the reader care and worry about them, after all when a detective is being stalked and harassed by crazed psychopaths his family fall prey to them as well, making me stressed out but completely absorbed into the plot.
This time the nemesis is not only dangerous and blood thirsty but seems to have no regard for his own life, the games is tastier when the stakes are ultra high, making Alex's life extra complicated, his good deeds seem to be turning on him when a suspect turns the tables, making a mockery of the trail, making people question whether Alex caught the right guy. Never mind that the evidence points to the truth, the dirty game of lies and deception has reached new levels, making this a tasty and intense read. The killer plays a game with 3 other shady characters, throwing dice to pick their next victim and ways of disposing them, whether the killings are random or planned, they send shockwaves through all the pages. Peace and quiet never lasts long at the Cross house, no matter what great things develop. At one point something happens to one of the characters that made me recoil in shock, adding an extra ounce of worry to the whole story line, I absolutely loved the ending and I won't pretend that I wasn't close to tears reading it. Well a few tears but still...I'm a softie deep down there somewhere. This book was really fun and crazy and thrilling and all the good things one looks for in a thriller. As always I recommend reading in order to get the most out of all the delicious mayhem that twists harder and harder with each novel. Patterson had managed to keep a hum over the whole tale with someone's tragedy and it really made the book better than I expected, I can't wait to read the next.
- Kasia S.
Book Review: Okay, so it's 'Formula'--but THIS formula WORKS...
Summary: 4 Stars
I've been a big Alex Cross fan since I decided to pick up 'Kiss The Girls' while waiting in line at a Grocery Store several years ago, and I haven't been disappointed in one of these thrillers yet. I'll admit I didn't particularly enjoy 'Hide & Seek'--but that wasn't an Alex Cross novel. Authors can work their entire lives before finding a particular 'formula' that works for THEM, and for James Patterson, his talent comes from his amazing ability to breathe life into the character of Alex Cross...but not just HIM, we also get to know a collection of other great fictional folks, like Nana, Sampson and Alex's children, not to mention Christine, his girlfriend/fiancee. Patterson has found the perfect 'formula' that works for his particular style of writing and for the same reason we pick up a Clive Cussler adventure novel with same action, different local and different bad guy, he consistently gives us what we crave when we fork out $8.00 to buy these novels (I'm cheap, I wait for paperback): PURE ENTERTAINMENT.'Pop Goes The Weasel' captured my attention from the very beginning...however it DID slow down somewhere near the middle, and I had to force myself to pick it up again after I had stopped reading it for about a week--but I am certainly glad I did. Patterson keeps the plot moving at a feverish pace (aside from a small lull in the middle) with miniature chapters that propel us onward where you end up saying to yourself: 'I'll stop reading after the NEXT chapter...' only to cheat on your goal and stop when you realize you have to get up in just 3 hours... I have to admit I ended up liking our bad guy (Geoffrey), but you could see his falling into madness pretty easily so many of the things that ended up happening were predictable...but like I said, its ALL formula, and with Patterson's style, it all works rather well. I enjoyed the courtroom scenes very much, and wonder whether or not Mr. Patterson will ever come out with a full-blown legal-thriller one day? In a nutshell, if you are bothered with Patterson's style of writing in his previous Alex Cross novels, this one doesn't offer much--BUT if you enjoy them, count yourself lucky that 'Pop Goes The Weasel' is YOUR next purchase. Go ahead, you'll enjoy it.