"The Big Bad Wolf ... Not so Big, Not So Bad!!!"James Patterson is such a well known, prolific writer and sought after international author, that his numerous books have been read and reviewed a myriad of times, by people all around the globe.I generally try to read a fair percentage of other reviews about a title before I put my thoughts down in print, although I will always voice my own opinions about something which, after all, is very much about personal taste.I was therefore a little disconcerted to discover a genuine mix of views about this Alex Cross mystery, with opinion being very much divided.`The Big Bad Wolf' is the 9th of 17 Alex Cross cases, so by now the Character of Alex is pretty much established and developed, which may not be the best position to find oneself in, when first encountering him.His private life, like all other law enforcement officials around the world, is basically a mess. It didn't take me too long to work out his family arrangements, which is just as well, because they were quite critical in certain areas of the story and to not have known may have caused synchronization problems with the unfolding plot and with the actions he is forced to take in his personal life.What does become clear is the struggle he is having balancing a demanding professional career, with the emotional demands of his three young children, to whom he is obviously devoted. Alex himself, is going through some transitional changes in his career, which he is still not sure are all for the best, and although not affecting his professional judgement, the indecision is giving rise to some concern from both colleagues and family members.I am not too sure if the character of `The Wolf' was developed fully enough, to make him as menacing as he might have been, given the nature of the crimes in which he is involved.The sentences are all very short and staccato, yet quite `punchy' in their delivery and content. The chapters are very short, almost like scenes and whilst this moves the plot along at a cracking pace, which is great if you don't get time to read vast amounts in one go, as it makes for easy natural breaks, but does mean that there never seems to be time for any in depth analysis of the characters as the plot unfolds.The plot is not a difficult or challenging one to follow and the outcome seems almost inevitable from quite an early stage, but it is full of suspense and non-stop action, which moves along at a furious pace.The ending is where it all fell apart for me. Like watching a movie that has no final scene, the final chapter is left open for the continuation of the hunt for `The Wolf' in the next volume. Although technically the case is resolved to a point, which just about makes it viable as a stand alone novel, to find out what happens to `The Wolf', one is forced to read the next installment, although who knows if it will end then, or whether his reign of terror will be extended to yet more volumes?Overall, a little disappointing, left me with a void that remains unfilled.
Not his best effort here. Another Alex Cross book, but this one was not great.First off, Alex Cross has become sooo obnoxious. Patterson tries way way way too hard to make him the perfect human being and perfect cop. Single dad, raising three kids, living with his grandmother, PHD from John's Hopkins, plays classical music on his piano to relax, reads poetry, athlete, grew up on the wrong side of the tracks. Come on, barf barf barf. Also, how does a cop from SE DC raise 3 kids in a Georgetown townhouse? Does no one else financial mismatch here? The more I read these books, the more Cross becomes a terrible character. Once of my biggest problems with this whole characterization, is that Patterson tries to pain Alex as this incredible father, but he regularly goes weeks on the job with barely seeing his kids. I was actually glad he lost custody of his son at the end of the story. That is how tired I have gotten of his perfect guy routine.Secondly, this book has huge jumps when connecting dots in the case they are working on. So many times, they figure out some connection when there is absolutely nothing that makes it believable someone would make that link. This was continually frustrating.Lastly, the thing I hate most in detective books is the whole local cops vs FBI drama. This is so boring and contrived and makes an author look like a hack. There is soooo much of this in Big Bad Wolf, probably because Cross just left the DCPD for the FBI so there is so much stupid, boring, played out, FBI vs PD garbage.In the end, this is still a Patterson book, so there is good mystery and action. It is entertaining, but doesn't make me want to read (well listen to, I have never actually read a Patterson book) any more Alex Cross books.
What do You think about The Big Bad Wolf (2004)?
I finished this book a few days ago and I think it is about time I share with all of you my opinions on this book and where the Alex Cross series is going. First things first, this was my least favorite book of the series so far. I just didn't feel the sense of mystery and excitement that I have come to enjoy and expect from Petterson's novels. The whole Russian Mafia plot just didn't draw me in and even worse the plot is left to seep over into the next novel.. I am just not feeling it. Another issue I have is the endless parade of women Peterson writes into Alex's life, at this point it does little for the plot or Alex's character development and it makes the rest of the novel feel repetitive. Regardless of these issues, I cannot bring myself to give up on this series just yet. I believe that there is a lot of potential in Alex Cross' character and I have heard many good things about the later books. I guess I will just have to read it out. Lastly, I want to stress the importance of reading this series in order. I know it is not "necessary" to understand and even enjoy each individual novel, but the back story does in fact add to the character development and depth of these novels it is what allows even the weaker books, like this one, to be bearable/enjoyable.
—Jacqueline
In the book The Big Bad Wolf by James Patterson, Alex Cross is working on his first case with the FBI that puts him and his two children in danger. Making it easier for his ex-fiancée too gain full custody of their son. Alex is first brought onto this case after a judge’s wife in kidnapped. Afraid that this kidnapping might be related to other crimes across the country were beautiful men and women are kidnapped and sold for slavery. Alex is added to the team of FBI agents to find the judges wife before she is killed like the other victims. Throughout this book the points of view change from Alex Cross to the victims and to the kidnappers. I was drawn into this book because the exposition introduced the characters so well. I also enjoyed the narrative hook because I had to know what was going to happen to the victims. One thing I didn’t enjoy about the book is the resolution; I think that the ending of the book was too predictable. I recommend this book to anyone who likes a good mystery book that’s short.
—Sara
What went wrong? the Cross series has always (well, almost always) gripped me, but this one failed to captivate me, the plot was shaky, with big dollops of incompetence (arresting Wolf then just letting the guy go cos someone shouted fire! - seriously?!) and the way that Patterson has Cross pained as this guy who not only lost the love of his life, and is an all round great guy who just wants marriage - to every single woman he sleeps with, claims to fall in love with, gets dumped and is sleeping with another woman by the time the sun sets. A man who adores the kids he rarely sees and drops like a flaming bag of dog crap whenever work calls. I do like the Cross series a lot, but the way Cross is being painted as an all round great guy is starting to really grate on me unfortunately - and this being a really badly written book is not helping!! it seems a lot of other reviewers on here feel the same way as well...I've now put down the Cross series for a few months in order to get over my sheer annoyance over the character and rubbish plot from this book and pray that when i come back to the series, this book was just a blip and things get back on track!
—Claire Green
