Customer Reviews

Worst Case

5 star:		(57)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(22)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

In James Patterson's latest thriller, "The Worst Case," Francis X. Mooney is a do-gooder lawyer who believes in changing the world--rescuing people from poverty, donating to humanitarian causes, and increasing social equality. In the beginning, he tries handing out pamphlets about making the world a better place--but no one listens. And so, he decides on a much deadlier path--becoming a serial killer. But his victims are no ordinary folks.

Meanwhile, New York Detective Michael Bennett, a widower and a father of ten foster children, is called to investigate a string of kidnappings concerning teenagers from wealthy families. His co-investigator becomes Emily Parker, a beautiful FBI Agent specializing in abduction. Soon enough, Bennett and Parker notice a pattern. The abductor quizzes his victims about the current state of the world--killing them if they fail the test.

What further complicates matters is that the killer has Bennett's personal contact information, and is willing to lead him to his dead victims. In each case, the parents are contacted but are powerless when it comes to negotiating with the kidnapper. And so, the children of a media mogul, a pharmaceutical company CEO, and the chairman of the New York Stock Exchange, are left fighting for their lives.

And while the kidnappings of the first two victims--Jacob Dunning and Chelsea Skinner are very similar in scope, the case of wheelchair bound Dan Hastings is drastically different--starting from the sudden demand for ransom, to his unexplained disappearance. But the kidnappings only continue, while Mooney's sinister plan takes him to the center of New York's decadence and money.

This is only the second Patterson book that I read, but I enjoyed the suspense and some plot twists towards the later half of the book. Aside from the dark plot, Patterson throws in some lightweight chapters--Bennett's relationship with his kids, the romantic tension between him and Emily Parker, as well as his nanny's, Mary Catherine's, crush on him.

Overall, I felt that the plot was especially relevant given the state of today's world. Unfortunately, there is a lot of economic inequality, and, in spite of the book's darkness, Mooney comes across as this warped Robin Hood character with a hidden motive. I found the book itself a quick, but interesting read, with middle-sized text and short chapters.

One thing is certain, when you read a James Patterson book you're generally in for a good time. Tension, suspense, and thrills on virtually on every page. Worst Case delivers.

Leading man Michael Bennett is back in James Patterson's latest thriller Worst Case. Joining Bennett this time is FBI agent Emily Parker who specializes in abduction cases. The plot is pretty straight forward. What do you do when all of your efforts to ease the suffering of people around you have little or no impact? Simple! You become a serial killer. And who do you direct this maddening frustration at? Also simple! You go after those you feel have caused this suffering and you do it in a murdering way; a way that will make everyone pay and suffer, even the innocent. Any more information and I'm afraid this would become a spoiler.

I seem to run hot and cold on Patterson's works. For his last book, a nonfiction book, The Murder of King Tut, I could only bring myself to rate with two stars. I regret buying the book and feel a bit embarrassed to have it on my shelf. However, in the world of buying books it is buyer beware.

Worst Case on the other hand is a fitting effort by this very seasoned author. I don't believe you'll regret buying the book and you certainly won't regret reading it.

I highly recommend.

The book features a veteran NYPD detective, Michael Bennett, who's a widower with ten (count `em) kids. Those kids have an attractive young nanny who has a big surprise for the detective.

Bennett stays busy in this novel by working (and playing) with an attractive young FBI agent. Bennett and the agent pursue a nutty aging hippie/corporate lawyer who cries a lot and has a heavy agenda. A little Karl Marx philosophy. A little Groucho Marx humor. Kidnappings and vicious murders. Talk of a greener, better world. A priest who gleefully admits he's a grandfather. A physically challenged Columbia student who has a "Russian squeeze." And we get to learn that corporate greed is really, really bad.

Mixed throughout are giggling and light-hearted fun. Zaniness coexists with mayhem. It's more than a little cartoonish, and remarkably like a Scooby-Doo episode; but, alas, there's no Scooby. I looked.

It's a quick read, for the 356 pages have large font, plenty of white space, and there's the classic James Patterson (writing with Michael Ledwidge) style: mini-chapters of two-four slam-bang pages.

The ending is clever and exciting. Although there's absolutely nothing that's profound, it's a good read for those who want to be entertained, escaping briefly the real troubles of the world.

I would relabel this book "worst book". I got within 30 pages of the end, and my entire years worth of suspension of disbelief had been used up. What's wrong with this book is that the author's must have watched too many TV crime shows in a marathon effort.

Paper thin characters. There is no character development at all.

Preachy to the point of annoyance. Couldn't just one character make the point that just because a kid isn't socially active at 17 doesn't mean they should be murdered. The one kid that isn't murdered doesn't bear resemblance to any kid I know.

Main villian with Stage 4 Cancer and he can overpower all these strong young characters. Come on.

The plot is rehashed from so many TV shows it's pathetic.

Avoid this one like the plague.

Worst Case is the third book in the Michael Bennett series. It begins with the kidnapping of a teenager from a very rich family by a killer who isn't very interesting and has emotional issues. Later the body is found and the reader is lead through a series of repeating events throughout the rest of the book in order to be bored to tears.

The story moved along way to fast, was a rip-off of the previous book in the series, and was overall repetitive and trite. In the span of about 20 pages we go from a dead body, to Michael talking, to someone else's point of view, to people lamenting over the person's death, to seeing Michaels family, to driving in a car, etc. It never slowed down and at certain points became somewhat hard to follow and to understand. There were also a bunch of random acronyms randomly thrown in without any explanation as to what they stood for. The book even follows the same boring direction as the last book did; person dies, cops investigate, killer calls, leads Michael to dead body, Michael gets mad, Michael goes home, rinse and repeat until the end. Michael himself even says that this book is almost exactly like the last book, and when the fictional main character recognizes a rip-off of his own story, you know it's bad.

The killer in the book was basically a carbon copy of the bridge troll from Monty Pythons: "The Holy Grail" with, big surprise; Patterson's own worldly and political beliefs. He kidnaps people and first asks them simple questions before moving on to something so impossible to know the answer to and gets mad when no one can answer it and proceeds to shoot their face off in a childish fit of rage. What country has the highest concentration of AIDS in the Western Hemisphere of the world? What is the average lifespan of an HIV-Positive person living in Honduras? What was the full name to your babysitter while growing up? Would anyone even know the answers to these obscure questions unless they were medical doctors that worked in third world countries, were great at trivia or even cared to begin with? The questions he asked mirror that of Patterson's own personal views that he still continues to feel the need to beat us over the head with. He even randomly said that we need to be more "green" as people call it and even went as far to bring up yet again his view on global warming, yet another highly controversial topic that should not be in fictional novel. It's gotten old now and if he wants to tell people about his own beliefs and views on the world, than Patterson should "write" the appropriate book instead of constantly plaguing all of his novels with it. It adds nothing to the general plot and only serves as filler to annoy the reader by constantly bringing it up. I want to read a murder mystery novel, not a book on someone's political views.

All of the characters were made of cardboard cut-outs and bad stereotypes. The snobby rich people, the southerner with poor English, the police chief with a bad temper, the gangster with drug money and hidden guns, and the list goes on. Michael himself, aside from not being a complete idiot from the last book, complete being the key word, hasn't changed at all. He was exactly like Alex Cross from the recent book in his series, he was basically shown were to go and what to do. He just sits around, investigates nothing and waits for everything to happen and to fall into the place. The babysitter was also out of line by flipping out when Michael brought a female co-worker over for dinner. I didn't realize that the ten children with no personalities that she looks over were more mature than an adult. The cops were also idiots. Instead of capturing a suspect sitting on a bike a few feet in front of them, they simply let him go. Instead of shooting the person that was charging Michael, who at the time they didn't know was dangerous or not, they let the idiot do his thing and jump off of the bridge while risking his life. You were never given any good descriptions as to what these people looked like either and instead were given the clichéd cop-out "this character looks like a famous celebrity you know". I did not care at all about these people because they were one dimensional and bland.

This may just be nitpicking now, but this book was too fictionalized even for a fictional book. If the FBI has the technology to get a pinpoint location for a phone, whether it's cellular or not or whether it's even on or not, than I don't see why they were having problems finding the killer to begin with. In fact, I don't see why they needed any help from a phone company at all. There were also so many product placement ads that I was surprised that I wasn't reading a magazine. It was never "a cell phone" but rather "a RAZR from Verizon". It was never "video games" but instead "Metal Gear Solid". It was never "a pair of pants" but instead "Abercrombie and Fitch brand". I would not be surprised if any of the countless random companies that were mentioned paid money just to have their name in the book.

This book was arguably better than the previous book in the series, "Run for Your Life", but that's like saying you would rather get hit by a bus as opposed to falling off of a high tower. The plot was boring, there was yet again too much pointless and controversial liberal agenda thrown in, and the characters were a bunch of morons with no personality that you could not even c are about. This book was a waste of time and money so don't even bother reading it.

Have you ever taken a test where you felt like your life depended on the results? In Worst Case by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge, whether the kidnapping victims (only children of the rich and famous) live or die literally depends on their "test" scores. The test, administered by serial killer and former 60's radical Francis X. Mooney, queries the Paris Hilton cohorts on their social awareness. With questions such as how many gallons of water it takes to wash a pair of Abercrombie & Fitch jeans it is no surprise that the privileged kiddos' scores are not impressive.

Called in to solve the unusual kidnapping and killing spree is Irish Catholic NYPD Detective Michael Bennett. Additionally, Bennett's personal life, he is a widower with ten adopted children, is used to add a fun romantic element to the novel. When FBI Special Agent Emily Parker, an attractive divorced single mom, is summoned to help Bennett solve the crimes, the romantic sparks soon fly. Their witty banter, simmering romantic attraction, plus the complication of Bennett's feeling for his nanny Mary Catherine, add an exciting romantic twist to the story.

Worst Case is the third in the Bennett series, but functions as a stand alone thriller. Bennett is an intelligent and likeable "hero," who seems like a real person (harried - with 10 kids who wouldn't be -- and romantically a little tone deaf - he sometimes gets his singles crossed with Agent Parker & Nanny Mary Catherine). I look forward to following Bennett on future outings.

Worst Case is an enjoyable combination of suspense and romance!




Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; 1 edition (February 1, 2010), 368 pages.
Advance Review Copy Provided Courtesy of the Publisher.

To open a James Patterson novel is to open the door to suspense.....

In, Worst Case, Patterson takes on the subject of world poverty, the environment, and the tortured mind of an extremist. The novel's villain has taken it upon himself to change the world. Having been unsuccessful in making that change through peaceful means, he decides to change his tactics--the rich and powerful will pay dearly for their sins, and in turn, his message will be heard around the world. Enter, Detective Michael Bennett. While he is desperately tracking down the serial killer, he is confronted with his attraction for two special women.

Worst Case is typical James Patterson. The story is well-written with lots of suspense and action. This one is not as garish as some of his previous work, but still a good, fast read for mystery fans.

This was really one dimensional with very little suspense. I could not recommend this - took me forever to finish. The only reason I did was hope for something interesting at the end.

I had given up reading Patterson when he started mass producing books at a rate of 5-8 each year, however, I recently won this audio book and, since it was book #3 in a series of which I had read books #1 and #2, I decided to listen to it.

If you are not familiar with the series, NYPD detective, Michael Bennett is widower with 10 adopted children (his wife passed away in book #1 of this series). Bennett is the lead detective who goes head to head in a game of cat and mouse with a serial killer. He is working with and attractive single mother who is an abduction specialist by the name of Emily Parker. In this novel the killer is targeting the children and young adults of the wealthy in NYC. There is never a request for ransom, instead each victim is asked a series of questions, and a wrong answer results in a their death. The killer is a lawyer with a twisted mind, who has a grudge against the wealthy and their conspicuous consumption. He thinks that all of us should be doing more for those people in need, and those who are suffering. After several killings, one of the victims outwits the killer by getting all of the questions right, and she is released.

The audio book is read by (3) individuals ,Bobby Carnavale, Orlagh Cassidy, and John Glover who all do a great job. It's just that the story started out interesting enough, but the end result was disappointing. In case you are curious about the earlier (2) books in this series, they are: Step on a Crack (UGH), and RUN FOR YOUR LIFE (so so). Overall I would rate this audio book a 3/5 stars.

I read a lot. And I read a fair amount of crime fiction and thrillers. I dont expect, when I read this genre, for the writing to be on the same level as say, Philip Roth or Ian McEwan but I expect/hope for something that's a cut above mediocre. But wow, I sure got a heavy dose of mediocre with this book. I've read young adult fiction that's better than this - fact, I've read A LOT of YA fiction that's better. This is cliche ridden, ultra thin characterization, dialogue that's no better than daytime soap opera, cheesy plotting, and well, just bad writing. It's like white bread. Flavorless empty carbs. And I guess I shouldnt be surprised at how popular James Patterson is, cuz white bread is still a big seller...