Virgin [Paperback]

James Patterson (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Bantam Books (Mm) (July 1981)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553146521
• ISBN-13: 978-0553146523
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,751,795 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars ONE RELEASE OF THIS BOOK WAS ENOUGH..., January 3, 2003

By 

Lawyeraau (Balmoral Castle) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Virgin (Hardcover)

This is a bad book with a story line that is fairly simple. There are two young girls, both pregnant and both claiming to be virgins. One, Kathleen, rich and privileged, lives in the United States. The other, Colleen, lives in a small country village in Ireland. According to a secret missive from Our Lady of Fatima, one virgin will give birth to Satan's child, the Anti-Christ, while the other will give birth to the child of God, a new Messiah.

Meanwhile, all over the world apocalyptic manifestations are sprouting up. Pestilence, drought, famine, and and other evil portents seem to dominate the global landscape. Something strange is going on, and it appears as if the forces of good and evil are gathering about, girding themselves for one final battle.

Father Rosetti, an emissary from the vatican, has been entrusted with a secret mission by the Pope relative to these two young virgins, and it is one that will sorely try his faith. Meanwhile, former nun turned private investigator, Anne Fitzgerald, has been retained by the Archdiocese of Boston to look into the phenomena of a possible immaculate conception with regards to these two young women who inhabit disparate worlds. Anne must not only confront the unknown in order to assist these two young women, she must also confront her own powerful emotions and a destiny she could not have imagined.

Written in 1980 and originally released under the title "Virgin", this book has been updated by the author to make it appear as if it were a more contemporary work and recently released again under the title "Cradle and All". The book is riddled with ridiculous cliches from the horror genre and lacks any real tension. It has been released again to capitalize on the author's success with his Alex Cross series of thrillers. Unfortunately, it is not cut from the same bolt of cloth and lacks the quality of both writing and plot that earmarks his Alex Cross novels.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Cradle and All" is a great restoration of "Virgin", March 29, 2000

By 

M. Margolis (Upstate New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Virgin (Hardcover)

It's been a couple years since I read "Virgin", and I was pleased to learn that it was being republished as "Cradle And All". Patterson did a great job of remodelling this story. It was just as suspenseful as the first time I read it. I was fortunate to receive an Advance Proof and I can tell you that this story still is chilling. For those who never read "Virgin", the story is about two virgins, one a 16 year old girl from Newport, RI. The other girl, 14 years old, from an Irish Village, and they're both pregnant. One is to give birth to the Messiah, the other to Satan. No one knows which is the true virgin. This story is as chilling as any other Patterson novel, if not more. You won't finish the book disappointed.

72 of 89 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another Patterson novel worth reading, March 1, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Virgin (Hardcover)

"Virgin" is a really good book, very hard to put down once you've started since you quickly develop attachment to the characters in the book. Though not as long or detailed as James Patterson's more recent novels, it gives a good insight to Patterson's developing writing style. I particularly liked the story, though maybe a tad too religious, but it all worked together well. I think the fact that the book is out of print right now is the public's loss, and if James Patterson ever reads this, I advise him to re-publish it in softcover like he did with "The Jericho Commandment"/"See How They Run" I had to read a library copy of this book, and I'd really like to have my own so I can read it over and over like his other novels I've read. "Virgin" is definately a favorite of mine of Patterson novels outside of the Alex Cross novels.