Along Came a spider by James Patterson

My love for Alex Cross started with this book and I knew I wanted to read about him more. Lot more. so very next weekend I went and bought 2 more of his novels.

Along came a Spider ( ACAS ) was in my opinion a much needed read. This is Cross#1 book and in many ways , it explains the man he is : how and why ; the work he can do and how much he is obsessed with finding the criminal not 'cause he wants answers but also because he connects to the victims in ways only he and his partner Sampson understand.

“Along Came a Spider” gives rise to the well-known series devoted to a famous psychologist Alex Cross. Here he investigates kidnapping of little children, which confront him first with Gary Soneji, a mathematics teacher and a psychopathic serial kidnapper and murderer. Cross is to solve an uneasy problem – how to outsmart an ingenious psychopath, who managed to deceive the FBI, the Secret Service, and the police. Soneji doesn’t hold children to ransom and the detective understands he prefers a terrible unpredictable game to any money.

When the book began , the kidnapping by Gary Soneji happened soon and I wondered why was I told of his identity so soon. Then a hell lot ( almost all ) of the security service agencies are involved , testing whom to trust and whose authorization works in the case. The children kidnapped belong to super rich and celebrity couples and so the media coverage of the case when Gary is captured and put to trial. Again I wondered , what now ? I was in middle of the book and there was a case starting on the criminal. But oh boy , James did have a lot to offer still. The interactions between Gary and Alex and the way Alex relentlessly pursues every single thread in the case  is what makes this book so gripping. Gary indeed plays his part as the ultimate showman perfectly. His mind works on a tight-rope that he alone can walk and Alex has a tough task on his hand managing to see his plan or to overthink him.

As I said in the last review , Alex is absolutely awesome. He is the kind of man one would want to know and live with. He is not a macho hero but more of a real and believable type. 

This is another MUST read !

Rating : 5/5

This book too was made into a movie featuring Morgan Freeman

Excerpt from the book : 

The three bodies were upstairs in the front bedroom, just off the top of the stairs. 

      There was the mother, Jean "Poo" Sanders, thirty-two. Even in death, her face was haunting. She had bigbrown eyes, high cheekbones, full lips that had already turned purplish. Her mouth was stretched open ina scream. 

      Poo's daughter, Suzette Sanders, fourteen years on this earth. She was just a young girl but had beenprettier than her mother. She wore a mauve ribbon in her braided hair and a tiny nose earring to proveshe was older than her years. Suzette was gagged with dark blue panty hose. 

      A baby son, Mustaf Sanders, three years old, was lying faceup, and his little cheeks seemed stained withtears. He was wearing a "pajama bag" like my own kids wear. Just as Nana Mama had said, it was abad part of what somebody had let become a bad city. In this big bad country of ours. The mother andthe daughter were bound to an imitation brass bedpost. Satin underwear, black and red mesh stockings, and flowery bed sheets ad been used to tie them up. 

you can read / download the book here