London Bridges (Alex Cross Novels) [Audiobook, Unabridged] [Audio Cassette]

James Patterson (Author), Peter J. Fernandez (Reader), Denis O'Hare (Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2004 | Series: Alex Cross Novels

Alex Cross is back--and so is the Big Bad Wolf. Terrorists have seized the worlds largest cities. London, Washington, DC, New York, and Frankfurt will be destroyed, unless their demands are met--and their demands are impossible. After a city in the western United States is fire bombed--a practice run--Alex Cross knows that it is only a matter of time before the bombers threats to the other cities are brutally executed.Heading up the investigation by the FBI, CIA, and Interpol, Alex Cross is stunned when surveillance photos show Geoffrey Shafer, the Weasel, near one of the bombing sites. He senses the presence of the Wolf as well, the most vicious predator he has ever battled. With millions of lives in the balance, Cross has to see if the most powerful law enforcement agencies in the world can stay ahead of these two mens cunning.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In his 10th adventure, Alex Cross, now working full time for the FBI, is confronted by two of his most deadly foes: the faceless ex-KGB agent from last year's Big Bad Wolf, who's known as "The Wolf" and is threatening four metropolises with nuclear destruction; and the insane serial killer The Weasel, last seen in Patterson's Pop Goes the Weasel. Patterson's action is fast and furious, and narrators Fernandez and O'Hare do a fine job of keeping up with him. O'Hare does especially well with his performance of The Wolf, giving the Russian-accented villain a calm, almost soothing vocalization that nicely counters his sadistic actions. Fernandez brings a warm humanity to Cross, especially in scenes with his family, giving listeners a break from the murder and mayhem that rule much of the book. The narrators' performances are accompanied by well-placed music and sound effects. Each chapter opens with an ominous ticking clock and an electronically distorted voice announcing the chapter title, a technique that at first seems fitting for the book's style and tone, but soon becomes more annoying than effective. Still, this one quibble will not stop Patterson's fans from thoroughly enjoying the latest installment in the Cross series. Simultaneous release with the Little, Brown hardcover (Forecasts, Nov. 8, 2004). (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

'If you feel like a roller coaster, breathless ride, London Bridges is the hottest ride in town' -- Ballarat Courier, Australia 20041126 'Any thriller writer, wannabe or actual, would do well to study Patterson's 10th Alex Cross novel!Patterson continues to elaborate his finest hero, cerebral yet emotional, dedicated yet flawed, caught between duty and family' -- Publisher's Weekly 20041108 'Un-put-down-able' -- Daily Express 20051001 --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Hachette Audio; Unabridged edition (November 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1586217119
• ISBN-13: 978-1586217112
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (328 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #964,319 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #79 in Books > Books on Cassette > Mystery & Thrillers > Thriller

More About the Author

From my publisher:

James Patterson...


* James Patterson holds the New York Times bestsellers list record with 63 New York Times bestselling titles.

* JP has sold more than 220 million books worldwide. And considering pass-along and libraries, it's safe to say many more people than that have read a Patterson!

* In 2010, JP was named by kids everywhere the Children's Book Councils' Children's Choice Book Awards "Author of the Year" in 2010. More than 15,000 kid and teen readers voted for JP in a category he shared with Suzanne Collins, Carl Hiaasen, Jeff Kinney, and Rick Riordan. His Witch and Wizard series saw the biggest launch of a series for young readers ever, surpassing sales of first installments of Twilight, Diary of A Wimpy Kid, and Percy Jackson & The Olympians.

* JP has grossed over 3 billion dollars in worldwide sales. This is larger than the worldwide theatrical gross of Avatar, the highest grossing film of all time.

* JP has had 43 New York Times hardcover #1 bestselling novels, also a publishing industry record.

* Last year, JP has sold more books than John Grisham, Dan Brown, Tom Clancy, and Stephen King combined (source: Nielsen BookScan).

* JP properties are gaining wide interest amongst film and TV producers. JP's award-winning series for young readers, Maximum Ride, is currently with Avi Arad (Spiderman, Iron Man) and Universal Pictures. Lloyd Levin (Green Zone, Watchmen) is attached to produce a feature film adaptation of JP's newest young readers series, Witch and Wizard, and James Patterson Entertainment is set to produce the next Alex Cross film, I, Alex Cross which will feature Idris Elba (The Wire, The Losers) as Alex Cross. And, a television adaptation of JP's 2007 love story Sundays At Tiffanys aired in December 2010 starring Alyssa Milano and Eric Winter.

* JP's books are licensed in 43 countries worldwide, and are in print and actively sold in 100 countries.

* According to a 2010 Bowker Sisters in Crime Survey, JP is the favorite mystery writer amongst readers under 50...AND over 50! Survey respondents comprised American men, women and teens who bought at least one mystery fiction title in 2009 and/or 2010.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

110 of 117 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Bad villains return, but weak terrorist plot not much fun, November 16, 2004

By 

Gerald M. Bull "Jerry Bull" (Fairview, TN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: London Bridges (Alex Cross Novel) (Hardcover)

This is the tenth in Patterson's Detective (now FBI special envoy) Alex Cross series, and from the outset, we would surmise that if you are not a faithful follower of the previous nine, you will be lost. First, both central villains are reprised from earlier books (the "Weasel" from "Pop Goes the Weasel"; and the "Wolf" from "Big Bad Wolf"), but it's not so clear how or why they are in cahoots. The Weasel in specific gets bumped off so unceremoniously that we almost wonder why he was even included in this novel. Second, and worse, the brief scenes featuring Alex's little boy and his mother Christine, Alex's current squeeze Jamilla, and his ex-partner Sampson, etc. etc., were so sketchy that the uninformed reader might think these segments irrelevant filler.

Couple that with an incredulous plot wherein the Wolf is leading the presidents of four countries around by their noses, almost a trite post-9/11 recital of terror with Al Queda thrown in every few chapters just for effect; it soon becomes clear this is not one of Patterson's better efforts. The storyline is as usual reeled out in short, three-page chapters, with action galore. But we are given so little meat, so little background, so little motivation to care, that the race toward the end of the book was almost anticlimactic. An overdose of red herrings and gratuitous slayings did little to endear the plot to us either.

While we generally enjoy Patterson's fast-paced thrillers, this one looks too much like a bad screenplay - you know the feeling: it's not that it's horrible, but you wonder later why you spent so much money for so little real entertainment. He can do much better, and so can you.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Patterson phoned this one in, November 22, 2004

By 

Julia A. Allen "JoolzRoolz" (Northern VA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: London Bridges (Alex Cross Novel) (Hardcover)

This is by far the weakest of the Alex Cross series. Several things:

1) How does the Wolf go from a sadistic, homocidal, slave-trading maniac to an international, celibate, terrorist?

2) This maniac was blowing up bridges in major cities. He killed about 1,000 people in Paris. The book doesn't even get into the implications of this, except to say that maybe "the French want him as bad, maybe more, than we do".

3) His family was missing for at least 5 days. Where were they? What happened? He doesn't even touch upon this.

4) The Wolf never addresses Cross killing The Weasel. Hell, Patterson barely touches upon it - it's almost a footnote. What the...?.

Of course, Patterson left it wide-open for a sequel... "The Wolf is dead... at least that's what I told myself over and over again until I believed it". Something like that. But I tell you, I could almost care nothing about a sequel. I'm guessing that "The Wolf" is really an organization of some kind, but, again, who cares at this point? Not me.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Tepid & Unsatisfying, November 13, 2004

By 

BU Guy (Peoria, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: London Bridges (Alex Cross Novel) (Hardcover)

If you look back through James Patterson's celebrated Alex Cross series, you'll find some of the finest thrillers written in the past decade. Along Came a Spider, Kiss the Girls, Pop Goes The Weasel, and Roses are Red are all prime examples of a talented writer at the height of his career. Unfortunately, Roses are Red was the last entry in this series that truly captured the essence of the Alex Cross character, and everything that's come after has been mediocre at best, with London Bridges being no exception.

The story picks up right where The Big Bad Wolf left off. Cross is working for the FBI tracking the Wolf, the most ruthless predator he's dealt with in his long career. To complicate matters, the Wolf has joined forces with the Weasel, a villian from previous Cross novel Pop Goes the Weasel. After blowing a small Nevada town off the map, the duo holds four major cities hostage, demanding a multi-billion dollar ransom. Naturally, it's up to good old Alex Cross and his team of FBI agents to put a stop to their diabolical scheme.

When the series started, Alex Cross tracked serial killers, expertly piecing together clues to solve crimes that baffled other detectives. Seemingly overnight, he seems to have switched his focus to combating world espionage. It's not that the writing itself is bad, the problem lies in the fact that the plot is so contrived and unrealistic, readers can't help but think "yeah, right". And isn't it interesting that with each new novel, Patterson describes the villian as Cross' most formitable foe??? Formitable or not, the Weasel served absolutely no purpose here. His role in the story seemed like nothing more than a cheap way to win back fans who have long since abandoned this lukewarm series.

No matter what reviews say, Patterson fans will devour this new novel in one or two sittings hoping for some kind of improvement over his last dozen or so novels. Sadly, they won't find any improvement here. Only a mediocre thriller that makes them long for the days when Patterson's books were fantastic.