Rating: 
Summary: It's Not Kiss the Girls
Review: I found a copy of Kiss the Girls in a box of old paperbacks recently, and read it in one day. It's such a well written and suspenseful book, I took my birthday McLean and Eakin gift certificate and went on a quest to read another James Patterson. I think I picked the wrong one. Cradle and All is a very predictible story, focused more on the religious aspects of this "investigation" into virgin births instead of developing a compeling story. I quickly figured out at least one side of the story and was very disappointed at the "revelation." If you want to read exciting religious fiction, choose Left Behind. I'm busy looking for another story like Kiss the Girls.
Rating: 
Summary: Cradle and All
Review: A frustrating read. It never developed the characters so that the reader felt any connection to them. It read like a "potboiler" and left this reader wondering why he spent the time.
Rating: 
Summary: There IS life without Cross
Review: James Patterson is the best writer of page-turning novels working today. There is no question about that. NO question. His characteristically short chapters - usually of about two pages - coupled with all the twists and turns he packs into his novels, make for the quickest reads around. I can get through a James Patterson novel, of about 550 pages, in two days. or less. Cradle and All was my first introduction to Patterson, and i was impressed beyond belief. For a while this book occupied my #1 Fave spot, but has sadly slipped since its publication in 2000. it is a novel that will blow you away. it might disturb you, but it still leaves you wanting more. the last line cries out for a sequel, although Patterson has gone on record as sayign he wasn't actually planning one. (he may, however, now be.) the basic plot is this: there are two girls, Colleen and Kathleen. Colleen is from a poor farming community in Ireland, and Kathleen is form a rich family in New York. Both girls are teens, and both girls are pregnant. However, the sting in the tail is that both girls are in fact still virgins. they undergo tests, and this is proved to be true. news spreads, and throuought the world this is interpreted as the "Second Coming of the Lord." The church is in uproar. They believe one girl will bear the son of God, and one the son of the Devil. There is no way to know which girl, the only thing to do is to wait until the births. Along the way there are so many twists and turns your mind boggles with them. And, at the end, there is one final twist (or two final twists) which stun you. the plot of this novel is relentless, you HAVE to know what will happen next, so you HAVE to turn the page. you say to yourself "just one more chapter, they're only short" and you end up reading one hundred more pages. however, Patterson is an author with many faults. True he writes great novels of pageturning suspense, but he is not actually a very good writer. his fisrt wo novels Along Came A Spider and Kiss the Girls were both extremely well written, with good characterisation. but in his latest novels that seems to have slipped a lot. his characterisation is virtually non existent and the writing is poor. Here is an exampe, from first page of Chapter Forty-One. "When i reached her, i threw myself onto the sand beside her. Rolling her gently on her back. I grabbed her under the chin while calling her name. I turned her face to me." The punctuation and grammar and use of language is horrifying, and he uses the word "her" seven times in four sentences. The writing used to be good, but he has been going downhill ever since Cat and Mouse. He reached a horrfying peak with 1st to Die, which was, although a brilliant novel, so cliched it got annoying. it was pageturning with a stunning plot, but the writing was so terrible. and his portrayal of a group of women was nothing less than condescnding. this year, 2001, we have had three books published by Patterson. 1st to Die, Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas, and Violets Are Blue (the worst cross yet). THREE??? most authors only get through ONE a year. he has been listening far too much to the people who ask him if he can write faster. i would be much happier with one well written novel a year, than three poorly written ones. they are great pageturners yes, and i will always buy the next Patterson because they are so stunning, but i would really prefer it if he didnt try to churn out so many per year. this one is possibly his best one so far.
Rating: 
Summary: A scary and fast-paced book
Review: I can't believe all the disappointed reviews I have read so far. I sat down one morning and didn't stop reading until I was done that night! Of course the characters could have been expanded and maybe the book could have been longer but it was scary and suspenseful! I thought I would be disappointed since it isn't a Alex Cross novel but I wasn't. Just the thought of two virgins who are pregant-one with the Son of Satan and the Son of God-should tempt readers to read as fast as possible. I also loved the ending because it came unexpected and Patterson left it were it should have been left.
Rating: 
Summary: I hope James Patterson gets better
Review: This was the first James Patterson book I have read. I had heard alot about his writing, and thought I would start with Cradle and All. I was a little disappointed with the ending. It left lots of unanswered questions for me. I felt like there should be a sequel to this book and even wondered if there was one. I don't think there is. I'm not saying this book is horrible, because I did find myself not able to put it down, but again I was just disappointed with the ending and thought it should have taken a different turn.
Rating:
Summary: couldn't believe how utterly bad this book was.
Review: This was the first James Patterson book I read and the only reason I ever read another of his was someone gave it to me. Cradle and all was a total disappointment, I cannot believe a book of such poor quality could even be published. Its setout is very annoying - many many very short chapters and lots of blank pages, what a waste. The characters were unbelieveable and the plot ridiculous. I am all for this kind of story if it can be done in a believable way but this one just falls to bits really, the ending is pathetic (as is the ending in the other book of his i read - 1st to die). Please people, do not waste your time with this book - the author should not be rewarded for writing such absolute drivel, it would only encourage him to do it again.
Rating:
Summary: Compelling
Review: To date, I have read all of the Alex Cross novels and I absolutely love his character and James Patterson's writing style. I even named my son after Alex's son, Damon, as I was reading "Along Came a Spider" in my ninth month of pregnancy. I just finished reading "Cradle and All" in less than 24 hours, which includes sleep and 8 hours of work, so that in itself is a tribute to James Patterson's writing style. I could not put down this book. The reason I only gave it 4 stars is that I would have liked to have seen the characters fleshed out a little bit more. I was left wanting more of the story. This book and "When the Wind Blows" had an effect on me that is difficult to put into words. I definitely recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: miserable!
Review: James Patterson's books featuring Alex Cross are great reading, and when I saw this title at my local bookshop I snatched it up and was looking forward to curling up with it in bed. What a disappointment! I still can't believe this was written by the same person as books like, "Cat and Mouse", "Kiss the Girls" etc. This is such drivel! How is one to interpret this?! Did he write it in a fifth the time it would have taken to write a good book, and still get as much money? Is this a money thing? What a waste! His other books were so good - how can he live with himself getting something like this published? I'm still not convinced that the same James Patterson wrote these things!
Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT!!!VERY SCARY!
Review: I am a big fan of Mr.Patterson and this book didn't let me down at all. It was fast paced, and I finished it in one day. It was the scariest book I have ever read! This is not a book to be read at a late hour. YOU WILL LOVE IT!!
Rating:
Summary: A movie!
Review: Although I have not read the books "Virgin" nor "Cradle and All" I do indeed plan to do so. I might be in the majority here, but the other reviews of this book strongly urged me to read them. You see, I do not like the Alex Cross novels, but do like all of the other Patterson books, particularly "1st to Die."
Oh well, I was really writing this review to make the readers aware that the novel "Virgin" was indeed made into a movie some years ago called "Child of Darkness, Child of Light." Check it out.
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