NOTE: I am nearly 38 years of age, I am not doing a book report for school, I am not asking you to do any work for me, I simply want a few informed opinions.
Anyway, I’m in a position I don’t often find myself in, to wit, I have seen the two movies based on the Alex Cross novels (“Kiss The Girls” and “Along Came A Spider”) by James Patterson, and until the credits of the first one I was unaware that it was adapted from a novel. While I don’t think the two films are the be-all to end-all of mystery/crime/thriller novels, I enjoyed them sufficiently (Morgan Freeman, it seems to me, is simply incapable of giving a performance that is less than brilliant, no matter the film) to wish to seek out Ptterson’s work. Once I learned they were adapted, I began to suspect that the novels would be far more intricate and in-depth in every regard.
So, any fans out there want to share a critical opinion of them?
There are quite a few, is there a different chronoloical order as opposed to publishing order? I note that “Kiss The Girls,” written second was the first to be filmed. . .
Will I be able to get past Freeman’s performance and discover Patterson’s Alex Cross?
Do you personally dislike the films being a fan of the literary Cross?
Fially, share your favorites, etc., if you have a mind to.
It’s too early in the morning for me to answer all your questions, but I can tell you this: Patterson’s books are easy easy reads.
He’s the kind of author who spends more time on crafting the plot than stringing together pretty words. His chapters are generally a few pages long, and the reading level is somewhere around high school, I’d say. But he does do what he does well. That is, his plots and character development are pretty good, for pulp fiction.
I’ve read two or three of his books, but personally, I got sick of his style.
I’ve never seen either film. Maybe I’ll go rent one or the other.
I only read Along Came a Spider, and didn’t like it much. This was waaaay before the movies came out, which I haven’t seen.
My overall impression was that the book was misogynistic in general. It just left me feeling icky and not interested in reading any of his other stuff.
The other thing I remember is that the opening description of Cross said something favorable about him, being handsome and honest looking, like O.J. Simpson.
I’ve read the series, and enjoyed them. Not heavy-duty, life-changing reading, but life is heavy-duty enough for me.
I saw Kiss the Girls on video, and I almost had to start a Morgan Freeman appreciation thread afterward. I do love that man, and he plays the character very well, I think.
There is a rough chronological order to the books, although I don’t remember what it is. You won’t miss anything vital if you read them out of order, though…all the important stuff is explained in the next book through memory, etc.
Good late-night, can’t-sleep, bored-as-heck books, imo. Try one and see what you think.
~karol
Back when I bought my first in the Patterson series of books in paperback, I just looked inside the cover and it listed the order…so I bought them and read them in that order…can’t remember the order now.
Thanks one and all for your thoughts and recommendations. I usually read series in chronological order, but was curious why the second book written was filmed first (the first written being filmed second), but assume it has nothing to do with chronology, “Kiss The Girls” being perhaps thought to be better translatable to the film medium.
It’s important to read the books in the order of publication, because they deal with Cross’s personal life, departmental politics, and the cases he’s working on (there’s usually more than one). The continuity gets messed up if you read them out of order. Just use the copyright dates, and you’ll do fine.
I don’t agree with slackergirl’s evaluation of “Along Came a Spider”, particularly in light of how Patterson has portrayed his female characters in other books. There is a female sociopath in it, but compared to the male sociopath, she’s small potatoes.
The first few are good, but I disliked “Jack and Jill” thoroughly. And don’t try to read them consecutively unless you want to get really sick of reading about how much Cross loves his kids.
On your other question, “Kiss the Girls” was probably chosen for the first because it’s a serial killer story, and the producers were looking for that type of story.
For the love of all that is holy, do not acquire curiosity about Patterson’s other works and decide to read “Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas.” Pure dreck.
If you really want to read it, I can send it to you, because I own it and it’s so terrible I won’t pass it on to any friends as I do with all my other hardbacks. But first you must assure me you have a fireplace so you can heave it into the flames when you get sick of it about 30 pages in.
Number Six, thanks for your “information” (sorry, had to do that). Amazon has them listed in publishng order and I’ll read them as such.
Cranky, I guess your offer is a warning that I should never get on your bad side, eh? That awful, huh? Knowing how you feel, I couldn’t possibly deprive you of the knowledge that that book is in your house somewhere. Maybe you can get rid of it during the next White Elephant, but I’m sure the postal service has rules about sending such stuff through the mail.
Don’t feel so bad, I have a copy of that Waller novel somewhere, Bridges of Puke Gag County or whatever. It was given to me, I spent no money of my own on it, really.
That awful, huh? Knowing how you feel, I couldn’t possibly deprive you of the knowledge that that book is in your house somewhere. Maybe you can get rid of it during the next White Elephant, but I’m sure the postal service has rules about sending such stuff through the mail.