London Bridges (Alex Cross Novels)

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Summary: Return of Wolf and the Weasel
Review: Alex Cross is vacationing with his girlfriend Jamilla Hughes when he hears that a small town in the Nevada desert has been bombed and destroyed. Police soon hear that it is the super-villain named Wolf who is responsible. He teams up with another nemesis of Alex Cross, named The Weasel, to hold the world hostage by threatening to bomb four major cities unless there is a huge ransom paid and political prisoners are released. Alex embarks on a world-wide chase of the criminals and even ends up being kidnapped and hand-cuffed to a bomb. The final fate of the villains is not nearly as exciting as the efforts it takes to catch them. There are several red herrings, and people mistakenly identified as Wolf along the way. The ending is not even conclusive and leaves the door wide open for a sequel. There are lots of good action scenes and some enjoyable interaction between Alex and his family and girlfriend, but in an attempt to make each of these books bigger, better and more exciting, Patterson seems to fall a little flat in this one.

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Summary: Finished with Alex Cross Novels
Review: I am officially finished with Alex Cross novels. Patterson's early Cross novels (Spider, Girls, Jack & Jill) were great, but the books as of late have been getting progressively worse--and now London Bridges is the worst of all. The Wolf is an absurdly powerful enemy, and seems to have access to unlimited money, manpower, information, etc. Not only is the Wolf and the whole London Bridges storyline ridiculous, the multiple "fake" endings are even worse. Every time you think you know who the Wolf is, the rug gets pulled out from beneath your feet. Does Patterson even know who the Wolf is? Does he care? Does he think his multiple endings are good writing? It's a shame b/c Patterson has taken a great character and just ruined him with the crap he now sells masquarading as thriller novels.

Rating:
Summary: Unfulfilling
Review: I couldn't wait to get my hands on this book...and once I had it, it stayed on my night table for over three weeks. Needless to say, the book did not fulfill what Big Bad Wolf had left us tasting... I found this book to be extremely twisted, and not in the good way, Alex is in Seattle with his son for one page and next thing you know he is somewhere else trying to catch the Wolf.
I thought the Wolf would live up to his reputation in London Bridges, but both he and the Weasel fall short to the characters we'd come to appreciate in their first books. Here the Weasel is barely mentioned and you just can't catch glimpses of his old self.The Wolf is just a manipulating greedy criminal whom you can never tell if you're reading about him or not.
I admit I have been dissapointed, but I will not stop reading James Patterson novels, because I keep hoping to read another novel as exciting as Kiss the Girls.

Rating:
Summary: Haste Makes Waste
Review: It's sad for me to say I agree with all these negative reviews. James Patterson is far too good a writer to have his name associated with this latest effort. It is a rehash of so many of his earlier books. Mr. Patterson... please, please stop trying for quantity; slow down and return to your true talent. You are way too good to continue trying to write too fast.

Rating:
Summary: Very disappointed. . .
Review: James Patterson has been one of my favorite authors, and I can't wait to pick up his new books as they are available. I asked for this one for Christmas. Sadly, I was very disappointed. The writing is stilted and the plot questionable. I feel, as do some of the other reviewers, that this book was churned out to meet a deadline. The only reason I finished it was because my husband paid full price for it as soon as it came out. Next time, I'll wait for the paperback version, or better yet get it from the library so I don't feel so ripped off!

Rating:
Summary: so poorly written, so formatted and stereotyped junk
Review: just don't know why this jp factory still running like crazy, putting out one after another lousy product and keep it coming. my god, almost all of his books were poorly written, but could never figure out why there are still so many monronic readers would waste money and time on this pathetic writer. he's even worse than robert p. parker, but both use the loose lines, short chapters, thick paper to ballooooooon a pamphlet-like dime novel into thick enough books. avoid this guy and his quality control lacking paper factory.

Rating:
Summary: Absurd
Review: One shouldn't waste many words in reviewing this. The plot is out of some silly, puerile comic book of old. The characters are often laughable, especially the villains. The atmosphere is all over the place and never real. Even the obligatory sex scene is silly. In short, the book is a total waste of one's time.

Rating:
Summary: Patterson has forgotten how to close the deal
Review: This book starts ok, with the usual Patterson suspense and building of plots and subplots. Unfortunately, with this book an with the recent Lake House, James has forgotten how to close the deal. It's as if he thinks,"Well, I guess I've written 400 pages, so I better end it." Then he throws in a series of endings, none of which make sense - Alex Cross's family is kidnapped and returned with no real explanation of how this happened, where they were, and what the impact was. Not to mention there is great character build up about the Weasel, and his death is treated as a ho-hum event. Mr. Patterson has lost control of his writing and his books. I think I am done with him.

Rating:
Summary: why?
Review: This is the worst Alex Cross novel ever. I wonder why Mr. Patterson bothered writing it in the first place. I'd been a big fan of his until I finished this book.

It's a shame

Rating:
Summary: London Bridge
Review: This London Bridge is not only falling down, it should have never been built (or written). There is still some of the old James Patterson magic, but this comes across as almost a parody of Patterson's work. Wolf and Weasel come across as more like
villains from a James Bond book. (unlimited money, unlimited manpower and unlimited bombs) The pace is fast and furious as with all Patterson books but that is where it ends.