February 28 th

Step on a Crack

Posted by Cuzzy as Books, opinions

Recently I recieved a book in the mail thanks to this blog. The book was the latest from one of my favourite authors, James Patterson and is called Step on a Crack.

Now I am a huge fan of the Alex Cross series of books and I was a bit skeptical over the start of a new series and new character by Patterson. But seeing as the book was a gift and it was a first edition and not even in the stores yet I felt compelled to give it a read. I am glad I did and I might be hooked on a new character named Michael Bennett. Yes that is right, the mail character in this new string of books has the same first name as yours truly. That is certainly an added bonus when reading.

Another cool part of this new story is I don’t have a visual reference in my head. I picked up the Alex Cross series after I had seen such (bad) movies as Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider. Don’t let the movies fool you, the books are far and away a much better experience. So when reading the books I always have Morgan Freeman’s face and voice in my head. That is not the worst thing in the world and for anyone who has seen Million Dollar Baby, Freeman’s voice is one I would choose to listen to as much as possible.

So now to the new book and what I thought after reading it. Without giving too much away I will just say the story is classic Patterson with the right amount of violence and well thought out twists. I always think I know where a story is headed and in most books Patterson almost always tricks me which I like.

There is still the strong family influence but this time instead of an elderly mother and kids, Michael Bennett is the father of 10 kids and has a wife of death’s doorstep with cancer. I always like the balance of how a high profile detective deals with the job and home life. Patterson does this well and always makes you feel for all characters involved.

The bad guys are smart and evil, the plans are well thought out and in this case on a very grand scale. A lot of this book could of been taken right out of the headlines of the newspaper and I think a lot of the characters were based on current celebs.

I read it pretty quick and found it hard to put down at times. I highly recommend this to anyone who likes well thought out crime stories. I mean I know you are out there, look at all the people who watch CSI and Law & Order. This book picks right up where those shows leave off.

Here is the blurb from the publisher.

Pop a bowl of popcorn, settle into a comfy chair and you might finish this combination thriller and tearjerker before the popcorn. Bestseller Patterson (Cross) and Ledwidge (The Narrowback) spin a fantastic tale of an audacious mass kidnapping and the unlikely detective thrust into the primary role of negotiator, sleuth and hero. Michael Bennett, a senior NYPD homicide detective, has a wife dying of cancer and 10 adopted children of various ethnic origins. When St. Patrick’s Cathedral, site of the celebrity-packed funeral of a former first lady, is seized by a dozen ruthless men, Bennett ends up as point man for the hastily assembled negotiating team. From then on, the tale requires the reader to go with the flow as Bennett alternates visits to his wife’s hospital bedside, brief trips to check on how his kids are managing and tense dealings with the well-prepared kidnappers. Short on credibility on the crime front, long on sentimentality on the home front, this book would be a good candidate for adaptation as a one-hour TV movie. (Feb.)
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