Along Came a Spider

Rating:
Summary: a book of style and power. Fun to read.
Review: Of the many elements which make 'Along Came A Spider' a great book - pacing, use of words, paragraph construction, plot, depth of characters, - it's unique and stylish feel, without a doubt, elevates it above 90 % of all other books of this genre. I remember the first time I'd read this book a few years ago. As I was into it, I could feel that this book had a certain 'elegance' to it. I really couldn't put into words why I felt this way about it, only that I definitely felt something special about it. And now, I could read just one chapter of any James Patterson book and know he was the author . He has a polished and unique style with phrasing. Patterson is a special kind of author. He easily blends into his writing the subtle nuances that human beings possess. All paragraphs mean something. All words are selected with care. This is especially so with this novel. And though I address a couple of flaws here, keep in mind that they are so minor taken in the context of this powerful work, that they don't detract much from the majesty of this book. Why can't readers quit whining about minor mistakes and just enjoy it for it's entertainment value ? Jeez.... Following are two points I'd like to mention : To do it right, an author should have increasing tension with one major climax at the end. This book has two or three semi-major climaxes. As such, the 'tension' element doesn't pack the wallop that it easily could have. Also, many of 'signature' clues to the crimes don't accurately adhere to well studied serial murder patterns. Though dramatic and well told, again, they're not accurate in usage. If Patterson had chosen to avoid these two small flaws, I would definitely call it the best book I've ever read . Too bad, he was so close to a perfect book. Nevertheless, I still call it a great book. You won't find a novel with better written phrasing and paragraphs, nor one with half the style this book has. Read it, it'll soon become the standard by which you judge all other 'thriller' type books. It's my #1 thriller book.

Rating:
Summary: James Patterson is EXCELLENT!
Review: I've just found James Patterson and I can't stop reading his books. I love thrillers and he certainly has the corner market on style. In Along Came A Spider, I found myself staying up all night just to see what happened. Then I went to the library and checked out all his books. I haven't been disappointed yet! The plots are wonderful and I love the characters. They are like friends by the end of the book! I'll keep reading everything he writes. I'm looking forward to Cat and Mouse!!

Rating:
Summary: not the worst, but close
Review: Can someone tell me why James Patterson would have his black hero play and sing Public Enemy tunes on a piano? I thought it started decently enough (reminded me of John Sandford) but as I kept reading it became more and more ridiculous. By the time I got to that "Public Enemy" line, I had it. No more Patterson for me!

Rating:
Summary: Infuriating
Review: Every now and again I get a craving to read something from the bestseller lists, even though I am usually saddened and angered that such crap is devoured wholesale by the public. Regardless, it is fun to read some exciting escapism from time to time. However, rarely have I read a book as poor as this. First of all, the writing is simply atrocious. Next to Danielle Steele, I have never read an author who gives his readers so little credit. Every single motivation behind even the most inncocuous of statements needs to be explained. Mr. Patterson obviously thinks he's writing in a vacuum and does not realize that readers (even not so intelligent ones) bring with them to a book an entire lifetime of experiences, associations, etc., that make such explanations unnecessary. Besides all that, the writing is simply incompetent. With regard to plot, not only was it predictable, but never was it even exciting. Even worse, it never made sense. Other readers have commented below on many problems with the plot. I will only add that at the end of the book, the female Secret Service agent-gone-wrong (and gone wrong in an utterly unbelievably ludicrous way) is executed. Three things: 1) Because of the nature of the crime, I assume she was tried in federal court--at least she should have been. That said, let me state that no one has been executed by the federal government since the death penalty was reinsituted in the 70s. 2) I find it unlikely that a woman who had served her country and had then indirectly participated in a few murders would be sentenced to die. 3) and most importantly: the book takes place over 1992-1993. The agent is executed in the the epilogue, labeled as 1994. When was the last time anyone was executed in this country in less than 1 year's time from conviction? Exactly never. Suffice it to say, the characters in this book are cliche and utterly uninteresting. I could almost recite the dialogue word for word before even reading it. The actions and feelings of all of the characters are unexplainable and do not grow organically from the story. Every single thing that happens in this book happens to serve the convoluted and ill-conceived plot. Patterson could care less if any of these actions, etc., make any sense, so long as his tale is told. I also found Soneji to be not at all frightening or even intelligent. The only clue that he is intelligent is Patterson telling us every two pages that he's intelligent. You never FEEL that he's so crafty. Soneji was truly one of the lamest villains I've ever come across, largely because of the author's complete incompetence. I chose this book because a coworker had it in her office and I needed something to read on a long train trip that night. Had I not been completely without any other reading material, I am sure I would have abandoned this garbage long before we pulled into station.

Rating:
Summary: super read
Review: Couldn't put it down, it's the first JP I've read and I'm headed out for another one. I found myself saying outloud "I can't believe this!" I stayed up so late reading this, that my boyfriend finally went out and bought me a little book light! I'm a Patricia Cornwell fan and have read almost all of hers, now I'm anxious to do the same with JP.

Rating:
Summary: A Spider Worth Catching!
Review: By Four Mamas in Chardon!! In Along Came a Spider, there were some good points and some bad points to the story. First, let's look at the bad points. The plot dragged out and could have been made shorter. Next, the book was a little exaggerated in some parts. For example, a judge in real life would never allow someone to be hypnotized in the courtroom as he did in the book. Finally, we were not big fans the "justice" given to the villains in the ending. We thought it was poor in the way that Gary Soneji didn't get the death penalty and Jezzie did receive it even though Gary committed more serious crimes. However, we did find good points throughout the novel: We liked, first of all, that the chapters always left us with something to think about, and they motivated us to read on to the next chapter. Also, we thought the story gave us some very believable situations. For example, the affair between Jezzie and Alex was very realistic as well as interesting and provided the surprise ending. Another good example was how well we could relate to the families in the book, especially Alex Cross's family who represented a suburban, middle-class, black family living in the city. There was also the fact that the descriptions of the characters were very well-defined as we could picture the characters in our minds.

Rating:
Summary: Along Came A Master of Thriller !!!
Review: This is my third JP book ... first was Hide & Seek then Kiss The Girls and after reading Along Came A Spider, I'm already a JP's fan! Among these three books, Kiss The Girls is the best, follow by ACAS and I'm going to read either Jack & Jill or Cat & Mouse next ... hope JP will continue to thrill us with lots of top notch twists & turns plots in his future novels.

Rating:
Summary: Difficult to put down.
Review: I really enjoyed this James Patterson novel. It is easy to read, grabs your attention, and keeps going. Mr. Patterson pulls you into the novel with his characters -- places you "at the scene." I was disappointed to read some of the other reader reviews of this book which were not very favorable. I recommend this book along with Jack and Jill. I found myself saying several times through each book, "and the plot thickens. . . ."

Rating:
Summary: A mysterious crossroad!
Review: This book can be considered a readers delight. Not edgy, not passionate, not comic BUT all of these at the same time. Climbing the stairs to the ending is worth every step. The genius of the characters and the motion of suspense make this book a genuine winner!

Rating:
Summary: I never wanted to put it down
Review: I thought this was a great book. I was hooked right up to the end. I was able to figure out bits and pieces before actually reading but it was still a fun book. I just wish the ending would have been a bit better. It had the typical Hollywood movie ending. Quick and Disappointing. Soneji/Murphy needs to be brought back to create more trouble!