Search - Along Came a Spider (Alex Cross, Bk 1)

I felt like this book was everywhere with the plot. The race issues felt overdone to me, but the book is sort of old, so it might have been appropriate for when the book first came out. Mainly, the book was so LONG, I felt like a lot of it was just filler. Hopefully the next book in the series is better. This one wasn't a page-turner, and it took me forever to finish it. I lost interest several times and read other books. I do really like James Patterson's Women's Murder Club series, so I will read the 2nd book in this series before I decide to give up on this series.

This is the introductory Alex Cross book. Patterson certainly knows how to write a thriller that will keep you turning the pages, perhaps even keep you up late into the night. His charactors are real people. Alex is a very well-drawn personality and tells the story in the first person.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes thrilling mysteries.

Having read a few of James Patterson's newer works, I decided to go back to the beginning for Alex Cross. It was a thrilling and suspenseful story. I couldn't wait to see what happened next. The end of the book completely threw me for a loop, as it was a great twist and unpredictable. It also gives some nice back story on Alex Cross for those that have read later books in the series. I would definitely recommend this book, and would consider it to be "classic" James Patterson in which everything new would be compared to.

Very enjoyable read

begins with the double kidnapping of the daughter of a famous Hollywood actress and the young son of the Secretary of the Treasury. And that's only the beginning! Gary Soneji is a murderous serial kidnapper who wants to commit the crime of the century. Alex Cross is the brilliant homicide detective pitted against him. Jezzie Flanagan is the female supervisor of the Secret Service who completes one of the most unusual suspense triangles in any thriller you have ever read.

This book flies. Along Came A Spider is a perfect "fun" read. It moves at a very rapid pace. It has pretty well developed characters considering its quick pace and more plot twists than you'll ever anticipate. Just when you think you know how the story is going to go Patterson turns it on its ear. Another thing that makes this book so good is that despite the surprising plot twists everything is fairly believable within the context of the story. It's consistent, quick and exciting! Read it!