Feb 12, 2008 Posted by Nancy Williams on Feb 12, 2008 in 888 Challenge, Books read, Crime Fiction | 0 comments

Kiss The Girls – James Patterson

I dived straight into this after finishing Along Came A Spider, eager to carry on with the adventures of Alex Cross. Without doubt, it was a gripping read. Without doubt, I couldn’t guess who had done it until I was nearing the end. Without doubt the story was gory and filled with a marked good guy/bad guy contrast. But for some reason, I didn’t enjoy this book quite as much?

Perhaps it was the fact that once again, Cross was getting himself emotionally and romantically caught up with the main heroine. The first time, yes. The second time…really? I wasn’t convinced, and it just made me feel that perhaps Cross was as keen to form an attachment as he was to solve the crime. In my opinion, it detracted from the story, but then maybe I am a cynic. I found it very odd that the whole purpose of Cross’s involvement in a gruesome crime outside of his jurisdiction was because his niece was missing, but in the end, he seemed to pay very little attention to her or the ordeal she had gone through and was more concerned with the new love interest. And there was me thinking blood was thicker than water…

I also found the somewhat shallow racial commentary was a little bit contrived. I applaud Patterson for wanting to include it, but especially the incident where Cross and Sampson get stopped for being suspected thieves, it just doesn’t ring true simply because it is inconsistent. That might be an editing thing, or it might be a deliberate exercise, but either way, it didn’t really help the plot.

Nevertheless, it certainly wasn’t all bad. I love Patterson’s twists and surprises and I thoroughly enjoy his short chapters and pacey writing. I actually sat down and read the second half in a sitting last night (having read absolutely nothing while I was away skiing for a week) so I can’t complain that it isn’t a page turner. But I think I might give Cross a bit of a breather for a little while, before I get cracking on the third in the series.

Rating: 6/10
ISBN: Book club copy – no ISBN printed
Publisher: BCA
Year: 1995
Date Finished: 12 February 2008
Challenges: 1/8 from Category 1 – Crime Fiction in the 888 Challenge