Big Bad Wolf by
James Patterson
hbk out October 03
Published by Headline
at £17.99
Another in the Alex Cross series, but this time our hero has been taken on by
the FBI. Of course, he gets embroiled in a nasty hostage case even before he has
finished his training at Quantico. Then he is called in to use his former expertise in
the case of the abduction of the wife of a judge. Alex the loner is not about to change
his spots for even the FBI.
The abduction, and other similar cases are linked to a mysterious Russian
Mafia godfather, the Wolf. His identity is obscure, but the reader is let into the secret.
Or is he/she? The man we are told is the Wolf uses violence like a politician uses
spin. It's second nature to him. If he wants to fix a hockey match, he simply employs
a little strong-arm tactic on two burly players, and the match result is his. If he wants
a judge's wife, he gets it, courtesy of a man and wife snatch team. When the snatch
team crosses him, he eliminates them. As in Russia, so in America. His next
apparent victim is a celebrity fashion designer, another white female. But then, the
cycle is broken, and a gay male is abducted. A circle of rich maniacs happy to
indulge their fantasies is being catered for by the Wolf, it seems.
As Alex Cross strives to track the Wolf down, his own life is in turmoil.
Despite a partner, unhappily located miles away in San Francisco, he cares well for
his three children. Until his ex-partner turns up and wants to take their child, little
Alex, back. Alex finds that difficult to cope with.
James Patterson certainly writes at a cracking pace. Every scene is a chapter
in its own right. This is disconcerting at first, and I've never read 119 chapters
outside of 'War and Peace'. In 314 pages, it's remarkable. But it does leave you
breathless, as episode piles on episode. And the psychology of the victim, as the
judge's wife strives to survive her ordeal is fascinating. Less satisfactory is the twist
at the ending...Will the real Wolf stand up?
(
Ian Morson
Author of Falconer books and short listed for 1999 Ellis Peters Historical Crime Dagger)
Big Bad Wolf by
James Patterson
