LONDON BRIDGES by James Patterson
Novelist James Patterson is at his best when he is writing an Alex Cross mystery. LONDON BRIDGES is the tenth book in this series, and finds Patterson still at his most intriguing. This time out two of Cross' old nemeses return to battle wits and wage war against him. It is a fight to the finish and makes for a pulse pounding, heart stopping read.
As the story opens FBI Operative Alex Cross is in Seattle visiting with his son, Little Alex. He is still heartbroken that he is not able to be nearer the boy and to be more a part of his life. Just as that visit concludes Alex gets word he is needed back at his office at the FBI. It seems there has been an "incident" and an entire town in Nevada has been obliterated.
Soon Alex learns that his old foes, "The Weasel" and "The Wolf," have joined forces to create havoc and horror in the world. If a demand for many millions of dollars and the release of many political prisoners is not honored then there will be death and destruction throughout the world.
The rest of the book has Alex speeding to various places around the globe trying to stop the horror. It is a cat and mouse game combined with a life and death struggle. The odds are stacked in the favor of the bad guys but with Alex on board there is a chance the good guys could win.
Patterson keeps the reader off balance throughout the story. Just when you think Alex is making progress he slips back a few squares on this "game" board. The Weasel and the Wolf are at their most sadistic and most amoral and show it time after time.
The flaw in the book is that it is so horrific. After "9/11" most of us are no longer shocked at man's potential for inhumanity, but that doesn't mean we want to read it, see it, or hear about it. It cuts too close to home, and death at the hands of people like this still seems personal.
Patterson almost gloats over the shocks of his story. He springs them with regularity and detachment. They seem to affect the reader more than they do the narrator, which is Cross. Finally so much terror occurs that the reader becomes numb.
So read LONDON BRIDGES knowing it is going to be a tough story to absorb. Patterson has always been inventive with his plots but this one seems to be the most sadistic ever.
LONDON BRIDGES is published by Warner Books. It contains 400 pages and sells for $27.95.