Alert
by James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge
Publisher: Little Brown & Company
Pub. Date: August 3, 2015
ISBN: 978-0316407038
Pages: 400
Buy Link: Amazon
Review:
Keeping up with every new novel by the bestselling author James Patterson can be a bit exhausting with fifteen to twenty titles being released each year. While most people have either read or heard of the popular Alex Cross novels as well as a young adult (Maximum Ride) and children (Middle School; Treasure Hunters) book series, some might not be aware of his other mystery series - Michael Bennett, which focuses on a NYPD Detective and widow father of 10 adopted children.
The 8th installment of the series, Alert (co-written by Michael Ledwidge), once again centers on Detective Michael Bennett who must team up with his old pal, FBI's Emily Parker, to solve two high-tech attacks in New York City. Of course nothing is never what it seems, so the more they investigate, the more complicated it gets. As the body count rises, they realizes the killers (whom call themselves Mr. Joyce and Mr. Beckett) have bigger and deadlier things in store for the city.
There is a small subplot involving Michael's elderly priest grandfather, Seamus, whom gets lost while on his way to babysit Michael's children. It seems he's starting to show signs of dementia, which just adds to the already high stress that Michael already has in his life.
Similar to the other recent Patterson releases, Alert has extremely short chapters (108 to be exact) and features one-dimensional characters. There are some critics and readers that will be upset by the way the novel is set up, but from my understanding, the author is trying to get adults to read by providing a fast-pace, thrill-a-minute novel.
Alert starts out a little slow with the main character, Michael, having to deal with his family's problems. The murder mystery is a little confusing for the most part, though about midway the plot does pick up speed and gets more intriguing. Overall, while Alert isn't the best in the series, it isn't a complete letdown either as there are enough twists & turns to keep the reader guessing what's going to happen next.
*Disclaimer - I received a complimentary copy in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.
About the Author:
James Patterson has had more New York Times bestsellers than any other writer, ever, according to Guinness World Records. Since his first novel won the Edgar Award in 1977 James Patterson's books have sold more than 300 million copies. He is the author of the Alex Cross novels, the most popular detective series of the past twenty-five years, including Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider. He writes full-time and lives in Florida with his family.
No comments:
Post a Comment
I adore reading reader feedback! I will, however, remove all spam and pointless comments.
Please take note that I have the right to delete comments from this site. Please only post constructive and respectful feedback.