The Word is ‘Prolific’!
If it is true that, when you mention detective or crime fiction, many people immediately think of Lee Child and Jack Reacher, it is also very much the case that they very quickly also come up with the name of James Patterson. As I said in the heading, the man is prolific and, even though, in more recent times, he tends to enlist the support of a co-writer, new James Patterson books seem to be coming out all the time! In many cases, I suspect he is the default author for a lot of us in that, while we’re waiting for the new Baldacci, Coben or Grisham, we manage to pick up a James Patterson that has either just come out or that we haven’t read previously. Strangely, though, while lots of us clearly rate him and his principal characters, most commonly, the first thing people say they like about him are his short chapters! I find that myself and I would even go as far as to say that, if I am reading a book on my kindle and I see that there are twenty minutes remaining in the chapter, it can be a little soul destroying and I yearn for the two-minute Patterson offerings!
He has three principal characters on whom he focuses and, if I was being honest, I don’t find any of them especially appealing, certainly compared with some of the other characters I have already mentioned and will continue to focus on in my posts! However, because of Patterson’s smart and exciting style of story-telling, I read every book on two of them as they come out. In addition to the main three, he regularly comes up with new characters such as Harriett Blue and Dylan Reinhart who, incidentally, is brilliantly portrayed by Scottish actor Alan Cumming on TV, and the dynamic duo in NYPD Red. He also published his first novel in the Private series, about a private detective agency, in 2011 and the fifteenth book came out recently. That almost deserves it own blog post!
Alex Cross, Doctor, Psychologist, FBI Agent, Cop and All-Round Super Hero!
Back to the main three characters, though, and they are an idiosyncratic bunch! First of all, the man who started it all off – Dr Alex Cross, former cop, FBI operative and psychologist and all-round good guy and family man. Unfortunately, he seems to spend his life being plagued by serial killers! When I say he’s a family man, those of you who know him will be aware that he has three great children, the older two with his first wife, who was murdered and the third with his current wife, also a senior law enforcement employee. In addition, though, Cross was brought up by his grandmother, known as Nana Mama, who lives with the family and looks after them, not least with her sensational and clearly described cooking! Both her age and Alex’s age are a bit of an enigma but Nana Mama must be in her nineties and I would put Alex in his late forties. There is much more information about Alex, his background and his very Christian family and one of the most informative sources is at this link.
So, what’s not to like about Alex Cross? Nothing really and the books are great. As I said, I read them as they are published. The conundrum for me is that, while the books are great, Alex himself is not very exciting and I don’t find myself wanting to fill his shoes while I am reading the books. At least not in the way that I do with Elvis Cole, Myron Bolitar or Jack Reacher or, of course, Spencer and Jesse Stone! Doesn’t stop me recommending them to you, though, and I have just ordered the most recent one on my kindle so expect a review shortly!
Lyndsay Boxer – Policing by Numbers!
The second of Paterson’s principal characters is Detective Lindsay Boxer of the San Francisco police department. Paterson has just completed the twenty first book in the series which he calls the ‘Women’s Murder Club’ and I have read the lot. I am very familiar with the number of books and where I am in the series because the author kindly numbers them in the title! Now, without demonstrating any prejudices which I might or might not have, a little like Alex Cross, if you had told me a few years ago that I would have lapped up twenty one books about a female detective and her three friends, I’m not sure I would have believed you! However, I’m glad I started because the books are excellent!
And Michael Bennett
Paterson has one other regular character and that is another cop called Michael Bennett. He is an Irish American New York detective who, if my memory serves me well, is a single parent with seven children! I have read a few of them and the books are fine but they have not caught my interest in the way that other authors’ characters have or in the way that Alex Cross and Lindsay Boxer have. Over the piece, though, while James Patterson is not my favourite author in the genre and his characters don’t always do it for me either, there is no doubt at all that he is a phenomenal author and, in my experience, his books are, without exception, worth reading, not least because his style of writing in short chapters makes them an easy and enjoyable read! In addition, there are new ones coming out all the time and they are very good for filling a gap when your favourite authors aren’t publishing or you don’t know quite what to read next!