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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
funny
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This is the second in this series I've tried and it was better than the first if you ignore the pure Hollywood craptacular ending (seriously it felt like Patterson & Ledwidge sat there thinking bet they make a movie of this so let's give it an action film ending. One star all the way). I've been reading this out of order and didn't realize this was #2. Maybe if I had read the first it would make more sense but it seems odd, knowing what little I do about adoption that anyone would allow for ten kids to be adopted by a single income family especially when the Dad is going to be gone all the time. Honestly I don't find his family to be distracting and not really adding much to this other than enforcing gender stereotypes (not to mention Catholic ones as he leaves the care of his kids to the uber Irish Catholic Mary). Especially in this one as they all have the stomach flu and we get endless descriptions of where they've puked and how often.
The serial killer in this, the Teacher, is interesting, killing people who service the rich (and are snotty as they do it) to 'teach' them a lesson. His motivation is weak but at least the mystery is interesting IF you ignore the fact that this all opened with a hostage negotiation where the criminal was killed by a sniper and the police (including Bennet) were blamed. And we never hear about this again, never figure out who that sniper is. In fact the only time we hear about this is all the protests cropping up everywhere including in front of Bennet's house (really? He's not even worried about this) so his kids can tell the protestors they're poopy heads or some nonsense.
I think I'm done with this series. It's not for me. Too bad since I really liked the Alex Cross series.
And a spoiler of a sorts for the ending (look away now if you don't want to know). Shooting their way onto an air field (with Bennet as hostage) then stealing a small plane and flying all over NYC with the intent of crashing it into some rich person's place and them fighting in the cockpit before ditching in the river and Bennet somehow not dying. Head desk.
The serial killer in this, the Teacher, is interesting, killing people who service the rich (and are snotty as they do it) to 'teach' them a lesson. His motivation is weak but at least the mystery is interesting IF you ignore the fact that this all opened with a hostage negotiation where the criminal was killed by a sniper and the police (including Bennet) were blamed. And we never hear about this again, never figure out who that sniper is. In fact the only time we hear about this is all the protests cropping up everywhere including in front of Bennet's house (really? He's not even worried about this) so his kids can tell the protestors they're poopy heads or some nonsense.
I think I'm done with this series. It's not for me. Too bad since I really liked the Alex Cross series.
And a spoiler of a sorts for the ending (look away now if you don't want to know). Shooting their way onto an air field (with Bennet as hostage) then stealing a small plane and flying all over NYC with the intent of crashing it into some rich person's place and them fighting in the cockpit before ditching in the river and Bennet somehow not dying. Head desk.
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Beach read. Nothing more. Parts are fun and parts are just plain eye rolling but certainly nothing offensive.
The first thing that hit me about this book is the cover. One look at it and ‘Bruce Willis’ is all I could think of. Needless to say, after that I kept getting mental images of Bruce Willis as Michael Bennett throughout the book which only made it more fun to read.
In this instalment, we realise that a criminal, who calls himself ‘Teacher’ is kidnapping the rich & influential kids to teach them manners. Well, he is not just kidnapping but is also murdering his victims in order to send a message through to the society. When the police department is thwarted by the Teacher, they bring in Michael Bennett into the case. A widower with bunch of adopted kids, Michael Bennett is a typical James Patterson protagonist. Tough and intuitive, Michael Bennett steps in and takes things under his control. Trying to figure out the Teacher’s MO, Michael Bennett soon finds himself in a spot where someone near to him is under threat.
The novel is typically a James Patterson Novel that has small but action packed chapters. It is a page turner, giving glimpses of Michael Bennett’s personal & professional life, as well as a peek into the psych of the antagonist. Of course the protagonist is a kind of person you would love to cheer for and so while Michael is on the chase and closes down on the antagonist, I found myself biting my nails into oblivion.
In recent times, James Patterson has often fallen short of living upto my expectations from him. But this book was one of those that reminded me why I am such a James Patterson Fan. Good One!
In this instalment, we realise that a criminal, who calls himself ‘Teacher’ is kidnapping the rich & influential kids to teach them manners. Well, he is not just kidnapping but is also murdering his victims in order to send a message through to the society. When the police department is thwarted by the Teacher, they bring in Michael Bennett into the case. A widower with bunch of adopted kids, Michael Bennett is a typical James Patterson protagonist. Tough and intuitive, Michael Bennett steps in and takes things under his control. Trying to figure out the Teacher’s MO, Michael Bennett soon finds himself in a spot where someone near to him is under threat.
The novel is typically a James Patterson Novel that has small but action packed chapters. It is a page turner, giving glimpses of Michael Bennett’s personal & professional life, as well as a peek into the psych of the antagonist. Of course the protagonist is a kind of person you would love to cheer for and so while Michael is on the chase and closes down on the antagonist, I found myself biting my nails into oblivion.
In recent times, James Patterson has often fallen short of living upto my expectations from him. But this book was one of those that reminded me why I am such a James Patterson Fan. Good One!
It was just alright. Not as good as the first book in the series.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Detective Michael Bennett's next adventure, 1 year after the first, in which his 10 children all get sick with the flu, his grandfather is staking out his church donation box which someone is stealing from, and Bennett is chasing a serial killer who may find him first.
Super fast read as always. A bit too many details at times though.