Mystery Readers
Book Club
September 2016 Along Came a Spider by James Patterson
“They
come in all shapes and sizes, all races and creeds and genders. That’s the
scariest thing of all.” James Patterson,
Along Came a Spider.
Mystery Book Club readers are all devoted fans of James
Patterson and most enthusiastically read the September selection a second time.
Most of them have read all of Patterson’s books and eagerly await availability
of his latest books. They said they like all of his novels even the books that
are collaborations with other authors and those that are published under his
name but written by different authors because they are written in the same
style with short chapters. Even though the book was quite long readers said
they found the book engaging and easily read it to the end and were satisfied with
the conclusion. Readers liked the Alex Cross Series and wondered what the last
one in this series would bring.
Readers commented on the titles of the first few books in
the Alex Cross series which are lines from popular kids nursery rhymes. At some
point, however, he started giving the book titles names based on the main
character of the series, Alex Cross. After Mary, Mary, the next book, Cross, is
the first that adopts the new title style. From then on every single new novel
has his name somewhere within the title.
Patterson has a great following and his books consistently
are best sellers. The books are easy to read and very entertaining with great
characters. Readers compared Along Came a Spider to those written by Agatha
Christie and her classic mystery structure: a murder is committed, there are
multiple suspects who are all concealing secrets, and the detective gradually
uncovers these secrets over the course of the story, discovering the most
shocking twists towards the end. Patterson brings the plot to a certain point
and then changes from one red herring to another keeping readers guessing and focused
on the story.
Readers discussed the character Gary Soneji and why he
became a serial killer. Some were not convinced that he suffered from multiple
personality disorder. They also said that Soneji appears in another of
Patterson’s books, perhaps as Alex Cross’s nemesis. Other favorite characters
in addition to Alex Cross were his Nana Mama and his very well behaved children
Janelle and Damon. They liked his girlfriend Jezzy Flanagan until they didn’t.
The consensus was that even though the book was written from
the 1990’s point of view it was still relevant. There were questions about his
treatment of race relations with police and inter-racial relationships but it
was decided he was true to that time period. The discussion ended with a
request for reader’s favorite mystery book for the October Book Club.
“Maybe you’ll learn something
about life beyond Batman.” James
Patterson, Along Came a Spider.
Have you read Along
Came a Spider? What did you think?
Please share your thoughts in comments.
