Along Came a Spider (Alex Cross, Book 1)
by James Pattersonpublished
August 1st 2003
(first published 1993)
by Warner Books
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binding
Paperback, 464 pages
isbn
0446692638
(isbn13: 9780446692632)
description
A missing little girl named Maggie Rose. A family of three brutally murdered in the projects of Washington, D.C. The thrill-killing of a beautiful ele...more
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avg 3.88
Read in September, 2008
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I will sum up James Patterson in one review. If you are into DETAILED murder mysteries then this series is for you. If you have a weak stomach, if you are a parent, or hate your grade school teacher (Gary Soneji) then DO NOT read the Alex Cross series! Patterson has a gift with his attention to detail and character development. By the 3rd and 4th book you will love Sampson and continue to root for Cross. Patterson keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire time. I have a very short attention ...more
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Read in November, 2005
ALONG CAME A SPIDER (Police Procedural/US/Cont) – Poor
Patterson, James – 1st in series
Warner Books, 1992- Paperback
The daughter of a famous actress and son of the secretary of the Treasury has been kidnapped. The boy's body is found and the kidnapper demands that Detective Alex Cross be the one to deliver the $10M ransom. The money is taken, but the girl is not returned and Alex joins forces with Jezzie Flanagan, the supervisor of the Secret Service, to find the kidnapper.
*** I had...more
Patterson, James – 1st in series
Warner Books, 1992- Paperback
The daughter of a famous actress and son of the secretary of the Treasury has been kidnapped. The boy's body is found and the kidnapper demands that Detective Alex Cross be the one to deliver the $10M ransom. The money is taken, but the girl is not returned and Alex joins forces with Jezzie Flanagan, the supervisor of the Secret Service, to find the kidnapper.
*** I had...more
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Read in May, 2008
“Mr. Chips” shows another side of himself in the novel Along Came a Spider, written by James Patterson. The FBI struggles to find Mr. Chips, a sweet elementary teacher who is really Gary Soneji, a psychopathic serial killer who kidnapped two children during his teaching days. Throughout the novel, Gary Soneji fools the FBI, Secret Service, and the police as they investigate his murder scenes and kidnappings. As soon as the FBI believes to have a lead on the story, something happens that m...more
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Read in October, 2007
This is an easy and engrossing read, and it is a serious page turner. The craftsmanship, on the other hand, leaves something to be desired, and the character development is lacking. Patterson introduces Alex Cross, his star character in future novels, as a forensic detective with a psychology background. This particular story dealt with the case of Gary Soneji/Murphy a serial killer who had kidnapped 2 famous children to gain exposure and notoriety, his goal being to upstage the "Lindbergh ...more
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Read in April, 2001
Downloaded from Audible.com
But not sure which version I downloaded, as the link from My Library is dead. It shows a 3 hour audiobook, which is not what I recall. I will have to take this up with Audible customer support.
This was the first Alex Cross novel I listened to, and I enjoyed it very much.
Narrator: Charles Turner
Publisher: Hachette Audio, 2001
Length: 12 hours and 21 min.
Publisher's Summary
Along Came a Spider begins with the double kidnapping of the daughter of a ...more
But not sure which version I downloaded, as the link from My Library is dead. It shows a 3 hour audiobook, which is not what I recall. I will have to take this up with Audible customer support.
This was the first Alex Cross novel I listened to, and I enjoyed it very much.
Narrator: Charles Turner
Publisher: Hachette Audio, 2001
Length: 12 hours and 21 min.
Publisher's Summary
Along Came a Spider begins with the double kidnapping of the daughter of a ...more
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Read in June, 2007
The story introduces Gary Soneji, brilliant psychopathic serial killer, who will become Cross's nemesis for some books to come. In this, Soneji kidnaps the daughter of a prominent movie star and the son of a prominent government official. Pulled off a seemingly unrelated case, the brilliant Alex Cross is forced onto this case against his will, but soon realizes he's matching wits with someone who truly needs to be reckoned with.
I really enjoyed this particular book, and I enjoyed reading it ...more
I really enjoyed this particular book, and I enjoyed reading it ...more
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Read in May, 2007
the first of the alex cross novels, i was very surprised by the characterization of cross. i guess there is a lot of development over time, but the cross that i was introduced to in mary, mary is only like this cross in a peripheral way - reminded me of bad fanfic. if you think trashy thrillers don't deal with the big issues, like race, this proves you wrong - this whole book is about race and interracial romance and the like. in fact, it b...more
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Read in May, 2008
The first in the series of Detective Alex Cross.
Following a kidnapping of 2 children, with wealthy well known parents, by their well respected Maths Teacher: Soneji, Cross is requested to deliver the ransom. It's a quite fast paced and entertaining thriller and we start to see the warped, but very clever ways of Soneji's thinking early on,however I feel that we do not find out enough about the inner workings of Cross, although as the book progresses we do start to see his character more. ...more
Following a kidnapping of 2 children, with wealthy well known parents, by their well respected Maths Teacher: Soneji, Cross is requested to deliver the ransom. It's a quite fast paced and entertaining thriller and we start to see the warped, but very clever ways of Soneji's thinking early on,however I feel that we do not find out enough about the inner workings of Cross, although as the book progresses we do start to see his character more. ...more
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Another D.C. based thriller with a little romance thrown in. Love Detective Cross and his role in the Patterson books.
________
I went through a bit of a James Patterson kick for a while back in the day so please excuse the sheer amount of his books that I've read.
I think anyone who has read his books will agree they are not difficult or challenging BUT they are entertaining and full of suspense and keep you turning pages. I've enjoyed every one of his books that I've read! Mostly on vacatio...more
________
I went through a bit of a James Patterson kick for a while back in the day so please excuse the sheer amount of his books that I've read.
I think anyone who has read his books will agree they are not difficult or challenging BUT they are entertaining and full of suspense and keep you turning pages. I've enjoyed every one of his books that I've read! Mostly on vacatio...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in January, 2006
I never really used to be into the whole "mystery/thriller" genre, but I amrried a guy who worships Stephen King and pretty much anything else related to horror and mysteries. So, our house is filled with these kinds of books and movies. I went through a phase last year where I decided I was just going to start reading everything in the house and started with Patterson.
I liked this book, it was a good story and it deifnitely kept me interested. I like Alex Cross, he's a character ...more
I liked this book, it was a good story and it deifnitely kept me interested. I like Alex Cross, he's a character ...more
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Read in January, 2008
recommended to Mark by:
I can't remember, I'm still brain dead from reading this bookrecommends it for: Anyone trying to torture themself to death
This book sucked! The begining of the book really pulls you into the plot, however, there are too many periods of time between the actual events in the book where nothing really happends. It also had several unnecesary depressing and awkward scenes. The plot is also extremely repetative and gets dull towards the end. The ending was completely unpredictable, but it lost most of its suspense because it dragged on for so long. This book is one of those bait-and-switch books that starts at a hundred...more
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Terrible! Almost like a handbook on how not to write, or how not to write a thriller. Mostly copied, it seems, from Silence of the Lambs. The only reason it evaded a one-star rating is because I got the sense that Patterson was at least trying to be interesting. It's kind of brave for a white male genre fiction writer to have his main characters be a black man and a white woman in an interracial relationship, though of course Patterson fails to depict this realistically, as he fails to depict ev...more
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Read in January, 2000
recommends it for:
adults who like fictional detective series
This is the first book where Alex Cross is introduced. There has been a movie made from it, but like most books that have been made into movies- there are many things that are different or changed. This is a great book for people who like to think about what they are reading.
This series is a look into the world of a successful detective. You are not only brought into the horrors of his everyday life on the job( from kidnappers to serial killers)- but the family he comes home to (His chil...more
This series is a look into the world of a successful detective. You are not only brought into the horrors of his everyday life on the job( from kidnappers to serial killers)- but the family he comes home to (His chil...more
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Gary Soneji has designs on being the world's most famous kidnapper, even more famous than the man who kidnapped Charles Lindbergh's baby boy. His plan is to take the son of the Secretary of the Treasury and the daughter of a famous actress right out from under the noses of their Secret Service guardians. Now, D.C. detective/psychologist Alex Cross is on the case. He has very little time to find Soneji if he hopes to have the children returned alive. Very suspenseful and well-written and throws y...more
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Read in August, 2007
recommends it for:
16+
A very suspenseful mystery novel - I really only had one problem with it.
Patterson kept mentioning "racial inequalities" at random points throughout the novel - that contributed absolutely nothing to the storyline. I couldn't help but detect an "agenda" from the author.
It was very out-of-place and broke the suspense at some of the more interesting moments.
It would be like me writing a mystery novel - and throwing random insults at liberals for no particular reason...more
Patterson kept mentioning "racial inequalities" at random points throughout the novel - that contributed absolutely nothing to the storyline. I couldn't help but detect an "agenda" from the author.
It was very out-of-place and broke the suspense at some of the more interesting moments.
It would be like me writing a mystery novel - and throwing random insults at liberals for no particular reason...more
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Oops! I lied. I have read another Patterson book. Many people raved to me about the Alex Cross series and so I felt compelled, having seen the movie, to give it a try. I simply adore Morgan Freeman and I loved the movie versions of both Along came a Spider and Kiss the Girls. BUT, as written in the books, Morgan is so NOT Alex Cross and I just couldn't get past that huge stumbling block while reading. I did finish the book but will not continue on with the series. Not worth my time.
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Read in June, 2008
Two high-profile children are kidnapped from an elite elementary school. The man-hunt begins.
Patterson makes his characters unique with believable motivations. The reader really wants the kidnapper found and punished and this keeps the pages turning.
*sigh* Ended up putting this one down after 150 or so pages because the explicit language and graphic content were too distracting for me. I wanted to finish it but I found myself enjoying it less and less.
Patterson makes his characters unique with believable motivations. The reader really wants the kidnapper found and punished and this keeps the pages turning.
*sigh* Ended up putting this one down after 150 or so pages because the explicit language and graphic content were too distracting for me. I wanted to finish it but I found myself enjoying it less and less.
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Read in June, 2007
I enjoyed the story a lot even though it took a bit for me to adjust to a black, male perspective. Still I thought it was very good storytelling. The "surprise" would have actually surprised me if I hadn't seen the movie first.
I wasn't crazy about the reader though. He didn't seem to have a very good range for multiple voices. As long as he stayed with the few basic characters he was fine but once he had to stretch his skills he just didn't seem to be able to.
I wasn't crazy about the reader though. He didn't seem to have a very good range for multiple voices. As long as he stayed with the few basic characters he was fine but once he had to stretch his skills he just didn't seem to be able to.
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Read in November, 2007
So I was completely confused for awhile cuz I figured it would at least resemble the movie, and finally parts of it did .. but man did they change it for the movie!
It was pretty suspenseful throughout .. about the only thing I didn't appreciate was Alex running off, leaving his kids, to be w/ Jezzy .. but whatever ..
Michael Kramer was the narrator and at times his Joe-Friday-type monologues for Alex drove me insane ... but I got used to them
10 Discs
It was pretty suspenseful throughout .. about the only thing I didn't appreciate was Alex running off, leaving his kids, to be w/ Jezzy .. but whatever ..
Michael Kramer was the narrator and at times his Joe-Friday-type monologues for Alex drove me insane ... but I got used to them
10 Discs
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