The Alex Cross series is one of James Patterson’s flagship book series. This series of thrillers follow a Washington D.C detective and the various mysteries he must solve. What’s unique about Alex Cross is that he’s an African-American detective, and he often gets caught between the world’s perception of him and his own reality. Along Came a Spider is the first book in the critically acclaimed 30-book series.
Along Came a Spider by James Patterson / Buy on Amazon US / Buy on Amazon UK
About Along Came a Spider
Author: James Patterson
Publication Date: 1993
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Pages: 435 paperback
Summary
Alex Cross is a homicide detective with a PhD in psychology. When some deranged killer begins murdering and mutilating victims in the projects, Alex Cross and his partner are keen to find the killers. But when a couple of high-profile students are kidnapped from a school, Alex and his partner, Sampson, are taken off the project murders and put on the kidnapping case. Initially, Cross is unhappy about this, because no one ever cares about victims in the projects. But Cross soon learns that there is a close link between these two cases.
While investigating the kidnappings, Cross finds himself at the heart of the situation. And a romantic interest proves to be more interesting than Cross could ever imagine.
My Thoughts
Detective series’ often have a cheat code. That’s because these types of novels don’t necessarily need a detective that’s an interesting character. Often, it’s the mystery they’re trying to solve that’s the heart of each book. But in Along Came a Spider, James Patterson actually made me care about the life of Alex Cross.
Cross lives a humble life as a homicide detective. He lives with his children, and his grandmother, which he calls Nana Mama because she played the role of both his mother and grandmother in his life. Alex Cross also likes to unwind by playing Jazz songs on his piano, on his porch where everyone can hear him.
At the start of the book, we’re quickly told that Alex Cross is a widow. His wife was murdered, and we don’t receive too many details about this. We’re given enough about the murder to leave us anticipating a full revelation about this in a future book.
But what makes Cross a likable character is his balance of character. He’s your typical detective that’s able to shoot-the-shit with his colleagues, and to a degree, he’s loyal to the force. But he cares enough about his cases to seek out proper justice, even if it’s at the detriment of those on his side of the law. We also get to see Cross use his experience as a psychologist many times throughout the book. And in these scenes, we get to see his humility.
Another reason Cross is so likable is because of the situations he’s forced to overcome in the story. Alex Cross is taken off of a project murder case and forced to investigate a case involving two kidnapped children, who happen to be the children of government officials. Initially, Cross is pissed that so little concern is shown for the people who are made victims in the projects. But despite his distaste, he still shows concern for the lives of the kidnapped children.
As the reader, we get a look at the perspective of the kidnapper, who goes by two identities. Gary Murphy and Gary Soneji. Seeing the culprit’s side of the crime intensifies the suspense we feel as Alex Cross comes closer to the truth. He soon learns that there is a connection between the project murders and the kidnapping case.
Because the case involves such high-profile victims, there are secret service agents involved in the investigation also, and Alex Cross happens to get romantically involved with one of these agents. Her name is Jezzie Flannigan.
Because the book takes place over the course of two years, it can seem like this relationship escalates quickly. That is until we’re reminded of the passage of time that has passed. Cross and Flannigan seemingly fall head-over-heels for one another. And because Cross is black and Jezzie Flannigan is a blonde white woman, we’re reminded a number of times of the racial implications of their relationship. For a book written in the early 90s, these moments feel plausible. But one of these moments is sure to raise some eyebrows.
Because James Patterson is a white male author, it raises some questions about how authentic his depiction of a black detective could possibly be. But if I’m honest, Patterson did a better job than expected. Alex Cross comes across as a regular person and not a caricature. My only gripe is that when Patterson writes characters from the projects, the use of ebonics he portrays is laughable. Ebonics tweaks and adds flavor to the English language, but Patterson has one character from the projects sounding like a foreigner who can barely speak English. Because Alex Cross himself speaks normally, this issue can be overlooked. The character in question only appears a couple of times.
A signature of James Patterson’s books is the short chapters, quick pacing, and deep suspense. Along Came a Spider is Patterson at his best. The story will draw you in quickly and hold your attention the whole way through. Patterson does a phenomenal job of building up tension, and because of how short the chapters are, I always feel like I have time for one more. With every breakthrough Alex Cross makes in his investigations, you always get the feeling that there is something deeper at play.
No moment in the story goes to waste. There are times in this book where it feels like two stories are unrelated, but then they all end up tieing together. There is a major twist later in the book that you may see coming if you’re paying close enough attention. It’s one of those twists that allow the reader to catch on by weighing up all of the facts, but it could also go completely over your head and shock you.
Verdict
I went into this book not knowing what to expect. I’d heard that this was a long-running series by James Patterson and that there are multiple movies based on the detective Alex Cross, but I didn’t think I would enjoy the book as much as I did. And now I have set myself the goal of reading all 30 books in the series. I also thought that the book may feel dated, being that it was written almost 30 years ago. Thankfully, the book holds up well.
If you want to lose yourself in a tense crime thriller, then I highly recommend Along Came a Spider.
