Scan barcode
A review by weaselweader
London Bridges by James Patterson
2.0
High literature this ain't! You'll enjoy it anyway!
Pure pace! Pure dialogue! Pure hard-driving action! Pure plot! That's the good news! The bad news? London Bridges reads like a high speed jet boat ride in the very shallow end of a very large swimming pool. No depth! No character! No development! No background! No scenery!
Patterson is certainly capable of much, much better! But, for many readers (including myself, I'll confess) London Bridges will come up to a passing grade, depending on your mood and what you're after at the time! (I happened to be in exactly the right mood when I picked this one up) Like a rock-em, sock-em made-for-television thriller drama, this novel requires absolutely no attention or effort to follow and the action and the plot is more than enough to absorb you completely and pull you from first page to the last! (Did I hear somebody say "screenplay"?) And the plot? A detailed outline for this type of novel just isn't necessary. You'll get exactly what you'd expect - mass murder, assassination, nuclear weapons, terrorism, Russian mafia, extortion, snipers, assault teams, megalomania, globetrotting, CIA, FBI, Homeland Security and more!
Oops! Silly me! Did I say there was no character development? Strictly speaking, that isn't quite true. In a moment of weakness, Alex acknowledged that he was "smitten" with his newly found lady friend, detective Jamilla Hughes. Like so many other men, he just couldn't seem to find it in himself to use the "L" word! And, he certainly continues to demonstrate that, despite his dedication to the job, he is the consummate family man.
I haven't read Big Bad Wolf yet and it's been a long time since I read Pop Goes the Weasel. Despite that, I don't think I missed a thing as references to the Weasel and the Wolf as bad guys in London Bridges seemed forcibly shoe-horned into the story to provide some sort of affected continuity to the saga of Alex Delaware's life.
High literature, this ain't! But, what the heck! Put your feet up, let yourself relax and turn the pages quickly! It's practically unavoidable. Think of London Bridges as a giant vacuum cleaner - it'll pull you along like an irresistible force but, ultimately ... it still just sucks!
Paul Weiss
Pure pace! Pure dialogue! Pure hard-driving action! Pure plot! That's the good news! The bad news? London Bridges reads like a high speed jet boat ride in the very shallow end of a very large swimming pool. No depth! No character! No development! No background! No scenery!
Patterson is certainly capable of much, much better! But, for many readers (including myself, I'll confess) London Bridges will come up to a passing grade, depending on your mood and what you're after at the time! (I happened to be in exactly the right mood when I picked this one up) Like a rock-em, sock-em made-for-television thriller drama, this novel requires absolutely no attention or effort to follow and the action and the plot is more than enough to absorb you completely and pull you from first page to the last! (Did I hear somebody say "screenplay"?) And the plot? A detailed outline for this type of novel just isn't necessary. You'll get exactly what you'd expect - mass murder, assassination, nuclear weapons, terrorism, Russian mafia, extortion, snipers, assault teams, megalomania, globetrotting, CIA, FBI, Homeland Security and more!
Oops! Silly me! Did I say there was no character development? Strictly speaking, that isn't quite true. In a moment of weakness, Alex acknowledged that he was "smitten" with his newly found lady friend, detective Jamilla Hughes. Like so many other men, he just couldn't seem to find it in himself to use the "L" word! And, he certainly continues to demonstrate that, despite his dedication to the job, he is the consummate family man.
I haven't read Big Bad Wolf yet and it's been a long time since I read Pop Goes the Weasel. Despite that, I don't think I missed a thing as references to the Weasel and the Wolf as bad guys in London Bridges seemed forcibly shoe-horned into the story to provide some sort of affected continuity to the saga of Alex Delaware's life.
High literature, this ain't! But, what the heck! Put your feet up, let yourself relax and turn the pages quickly! It's practically unavoidable. Think of London Bridges as a giant vacuum cleaner - it'll pull you along like an irresistible force but, ultimately ... it still just sucks!
Paul Weiss