Thursday, June 21, 2018

REVIEW: Along Came a Spider

Along Came a Spider
Author: James Patterson

James Patterson started his best-selling Alex Cross series in 1993 with Along Came a Spider. There are now 25 books in the series. PBS included the Alex Cross mysteries on its list of 100 books and series for The Great American Read. This prompted me to check out an audiobook of the first Alex Cross book and take a listen. Wow....I'm sorry it took me 25 years to try this series. I loved the character and the book!

Alex Cross is a metro detective in Washington, D.C. He's raising his two kids with the help of his grandmother who he affectionately calls Nana Mama. She raised him after he lost both his parents as a child. Things are dicey in D.C.  A poor black family is murdered in their home. Two children from an expensive day school are kidnapped. A teacher from the school is murdered. The crazed murderer and kidnapper keeps adding more crimes to his list, including shooting up a McDonalds restaurant. Cross wants to find the kids and capture the suspect. As he investigates he finds that this case involves a lot of politics and a plot that goes much further than a psycho math teacher.

Alex Cross is such a strong main character. He has his flaws, but he is dedicated to his job. He loves his Nana Mama and his kids. I enjoyed seeing the character develop throughout this thriller. He deals with prejudice, Washington politics and bureaucracy. I like the fact that he is a psychiatrist on top of being a detective. He's able to get into the heads of his suspects, and his background aided in the investigation of the kidnapping.

I'm definitely going to read more of this series! Once I started listening to this book, I couldn't stop. We are in the middle of painting our house, and Alex Cross kept me company while I worked a lot of hours outdoors. It made the time pass so quickly! Totally mesmerizing story! I did not see several twists coming. I love it when a thriller novel surprises me!

Along Came a Spider is the 10th book I have read from the 100 books listed for The Great American Read. I'm glad this series was included. I can see why it's been a best-selling series for decades. Very gritty and suspenseful!

This is the first book by James Patterson that I've read. I'm a bit late on the scene....but I'm definitely going to read more of this series, and other books by Patterson. Along Came a Spider was exciting, realisitic and quite enjoyable.

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