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A review by book_concierge
The Big Bad Wolf by James Patterson
2.0
Book on CD performed by Peter Jay Fernandez and Denis O’Hare
Alex Cross has left the Washington DC police department to join the FBI. He’s still in training, but his reputation precedes him and so he is tapped to lead a major investigation into a kidnapping ring. The criminal mastermind behind the kidnapping spree is a Russian Mafia kingpin called The Wolf. Brilliant, ruthless, cunning, and incredibly wealthy, he is always ahead of the FBI who bumble along making mistake after mistake. Only Alex Cross seems to have any brains among his new cohorts.
Speaking of which, Patterson’s plot is full of mistakes, holes, subplots that go nowhere, and an obvious set-up to continue the lucrative franchise. But I have to give the guy credit for being able to craft suspense. He has mastered the genre; short sentences, short paragraphs, short chapters that always end just before the reader is satisfied, all add up to a formula that keeps you turning pages.
Fernandez and O’Hare do a credible job of voicing the many characters. My main complaint about the audio book is the cheesy “suspense” music and deep studio-enhanced voice that announces each chapter as if one’s life depended on this information. Then there’s the even cheesier “soft” music alerting us to a tender scene with Cross and his children. Puh-leeze!
Alex Cross has left the Washington DC police department to join the FBI. He’s still in training, but his reputation precedes him and so he is tapped to lead a major investigation into a kidnapping ring. The criminal mastermind behind the kidnapping spree is a Russian Mafia kingpin called The Wolf. Brilliant, ruthless, cunning, and incredibly wealthy, he is always ahead of the FBI who bumble along making mistake after mistake. Only Alex Cross seems to have any brains among his new cohorts.
Speaking of which, Patterson’s plot is full of mistakes, holes, subplots that go nowhere, and an obvious set-up to continue the lucrative franchise. But I have to give the guy credit for being able to craft suspense. He has mastered the genre; short sentences, short paragraphs, short chapters that always end just before the reader is satisfied, all add up to a formula that keeps you turning pages.
Fernandez and O’Hare do a credible job of voicing the many characters. My main complaint about the audio book is the cheesy “suspense” music and deep studio-enhanced voice that announces each chapter as if one’s life depended on this information. Then there’s the even cheesier “soft” music alerting us to a tender scene with Cross and his children. Puh-leeze!