Rating: 
Summary: Patterson Pops The Weasel With This One!
Review: James Patterson seems to get better with each book and Pop Goes The Weasel Is No Exception, I love how he makes his criminals, Gary Soneji in Along Came A Spider & Cat & Mouse, Casanova & The Gentlemen Caller in Kiss The Girls, Mr. Smith in Cat & Mouse, & Now Geoffrey Shafer in Pop Goes The Weasel. Geoffrey Shafer is also known as the weasel he goes around living a fantasy game called the 4 Horseman which he plays with 3 others, but he cannot stop killing, he goes on a murder spree in Manila killing prostitutes and now he's come to terrorize Washington, I love how good this is on Audio Tape, Keith David tells the story of Dr. Alex Cross, a homicide detective/Doctor who loves his family and will stop at nothing to see Shafer put to an end, Roger Rees tells the story of Geoffrey Shafer, a psychopath with a goal to strike terror into washington and win his little fantasy game, and Garet Scott who has about 3 readings in this book, tells the story of another Officer who helps Cross find Shafer until Shafer kills her. All in all a very good story, I wanted to read this again after the first reading of this. Please buy this book and if you can on Audio Cassette, in my opinion it makes the story fun and more interesting.
Rating: 
Summary: High suspense and drama, low reality.
Review: Alex Cross, a psychologist and detective with the Washington D.C. police department, is investigating a series of murders in the D.C. area. The suspect is a British diplomat named Shafer, who has become involved in an on-line game that he has carried over into the real world. Shafer gets his kicks by killing people in twisted ways, and Alex is hot on his tail. Proving that Shafer is the murderer implicates Alex in the crimes, and Alex's fiancé is abducted and missing for over a year. Just as Alex gives up hope on ever finding his fiancé alive, the case starts to turn around. This book his high on action and drama, and it was a quick read with very short chapters. But I fail to understand how Alex was able to get so much time off of work to devote to tracking down Shafer, since that crime was not one that he was assigned to. I wish I had a job like that.
Rating: 
Summary: Thin and simplistic
Review: Its a page turner to be sure, but many pages are turned quickly because the words are not worth reading. The characters are two-dimensional (at best) and the plot full of too many holes. Plus, its very annoying to see inaccurate descriptions of the Washington DC area.
Rating:
Summary: The best of the Alex Cross Series
Review: This is the best of the Alex Cross Series. A Taunt, Super Sonic Thriller that Does not stop for a moments breath. In this Book, James Patterson gives Alex Cross some thing that he really needed, a worthy opponent. Geoffrey Shafer is a British diplomat who has a special hobbie, Role Playing games that deal in death. He plays with out mercy, and kills with out remorse. When the murders attract the notice of Detective Alex Cross, the game of life and death will be taking to new levels. Alex Cross has gone against some of the worse murderers in modern fiction(Gary Soneji, Casanova , Jack & Jill, Mr. Smith) but none of them can't compare to Geoffrey Shafer, The Weasel. He's smart, charming, cold and calculating. The only word to truly describe him is evil, and he has no qualms to do the most unthinkable and most horrifying act at any time. All and all, Shafer is to Cross what Moriarty is to Homes. Two Opposing chess players in the game of life and death. From the opening page to the shocking final, this is James Patterson at his best. Get it, and keep the lights on when you read it.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: I just recently saw Along Came a Spider at the theatre, and decided to pick up a James Patterson novel just because I liked the movie so much. Being a long-time Stephen King fan, the thriller that I encountered--not to mention half the book being written in 1st person--was very interesting. I loved the short chapters. I could read nearly a hundred pages in one sitting, without realizing it. And at 420 pages long, the book soared by quickly. Alex Cross had so much depth to him, he felt like a real person. As did Shafer, though he was frightening. I definitely recommend this book to anybody looking for a quick, interesting read. The ending was very good, and made me want to keep reading, but there was nothing left to read. I'm definitely going to pick up another Patterson novel as I soon as I can. 'Pop Goes the Weasal' is one great book, but it has one of the lower ratings...do I dare say that there might be a better Patterson novel out there?
Rating:
Summary: The BEST Alex Cross yet!!
Review: I have always found it difficult to put an Alex Cross novel down, but I simply could not stop reading Pop Goes The Weasel! Cross is up against a most brilliant, demented psycho who 'hides' behind diplomatic immunity!! Geoffrey Shafer is involved in a dangerous role playing game with three other ex-British intelligence individuals. Are they really only 'playing' or are they real, cold-blooded murderers? Cross's fiance, Christine Johnson, is kidnapped while on vacation with Cross and his family and although Cross knows that Shafer has something to do with it, he simply can't prove it. Shafer tries to frame Cross for the murder of a fellow DC detective and almost pulls it off! He constantly taunts Cross and is so clever at it.I felt really cheated when I finished the book because I really didn't want it to end. I envy anyone who hasn't read it yet, cause you're in for a real treat!
Rating: 
Summary: Painful reading.
Review: James Patterson is very hit and miss. One book will be an excellent thriller and the next will be a disaster. This is one of the disasters. The characters and story just never seem to come together. I had a hard time staying with this one until the end. I wish Patterson would pay more attention to details. He left much of the story confusing and there more than a few plot holes. If you are an Alex Cross fan it may be worth reading, but I can not recommend such a poorly written book.
Rating:
Summary: Great
Review: This book is action packed and each move is surprising and interesting. This is the best Alex Cross book that i have read to date.
Rating:
Summary: Tries to please everyone - and fails
Review: This book attempts to please too many fan genres - romance novel, thriller, cop story. It is impossible to try to appeal to a guy mentality and overtly appeal to fans of cheesy romance novels. I personally kept rolling my eyes at his over the top use of prose. The main character is this weird blend of super cop/dad/emotional wuss. The plot is fairly predictable and got old fast. It would have been far more effective if it was half as long. Shame on his editor.
Rating:
Summary: Another great Alex Cross Read!
Review: I've read every Alex Cross novel except "Kiss the Girls," and I must say that "Pop Goes the Weasel" is definitely one of the best ones. We find our hero facing a british diplomat named Geoffrey Shafer. After a seris of chilling murders, that has stunned the city, Alex Cross finds himself helplessly lost. Geoffrey Shafer is one of the better villians in the series. He seems to be a suicidal villian, but we know that Alex has faced others. To compare him to Gary Soneji (Cat&Mouse and Along Came a Spider) is a joke in a way. But since he's suicidal, we can't expect him to be as brilliant as Soneji. Alex and his fiancee take a vacation to Bermuhda, and his fiancee Christine Johnson, gets kidnapped. This leads to a search for over a year. If you ask me, this does seem a lot like "Along Came A Spider" in a way. But we'll discuss that later. This book was very detailed, and this seems to reveal a lot of what James Patterson can do. Brining up Alex Cross was a good idea. The characters in this book, are believable. I can say so. Still bringing back his kids (who don't seem to age much in the series) and actually having a women who survives, doesn't explain the constant "cliff hanger endings" I've seen. However, these characters and plot are clever. They come from a mind of the one who created Alex Cross. This is by far my 2nd favorite Alex Cross novel. (My first would be Jack&Jill) The most brilliantly written, but does tend to seem like the ones in the past. Oh, and if you haven't read any of the other books in the series thats fine, because he rarely talks about the other cases he's been on. But you will enjoy this read, and I can say that I enjoyed it.
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