James Patterson
It begins with the double kidnapping of the daughter of a famous Hollywood actress and the young son of the secretary of the treasury. 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. And 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. "James Patterson does everything but stick our finger in a light socket to give us a buzz." - New York Times
When I read The People vs Alex Cross, I said I wanted to back up and read all of Patterson's Alex Cross thrillers...and so here I am at the very first one. What an amazing start for a book series! Alex Cross is ALREADY a character of such depth and breadth, even in this first appearance.
I ran across something that kind of mystified me and gratified me at the same time. There I was, reading a paperback edition of this book from its 25th printing; at least 28 years after the original publication date. The publisher had 25 chances to get it right, and yet I still noticed several glaring typos like the appearance of "he" instead of "the" and from the penultimate page of the whole shebang, "If anyone served to be on death row, it was Soneji/Murphy." (Shouldn't it be "deserved"?)
Another curious thing: I know that I've seen the movie that was made from this book, but there wasn't a single scene in the book that brought to mind anything from the film. That might be a function of me having only seen the movie once...and that was several years ago. (Declaration: It has nothing to do with my age.)
First Line: The Charles Lindbergh farmhouse glowed with bright, orangish lights.
Page 56 / Line 5: Gary Soneji left the farmhouse around 11:30 P.M., right on his schedule.
A Good Line from Somewhere in the Middle: I never miss a good chance to shut up.
Last Line: Peanut Butter Man lives.
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