Pop Goes the Weasel

I thought the plot was good and characters were interesting. I didn't think this is one of his best. My main complaint was the narrator. I had a hard time listening because he finished his sentences was a annoying ahhhhhhh. Good book-ahhhhhhh. Bad narrator-ahhhhhh. I recommend it if you can put up with the ahhhhhs.

True James Patterson style. However, it is a better read than a listen. I agree with the other reviewer, the aahh's are annoying and take away from the plot and characters greatly. Other narrators for his books are light years better.

I enjoy most of Patterson's works...if it was't for the narrator who I agree with the other reviewers was not very good, it was a good story...

First, Michael Kramer's narration was exceedingly offputting, breathless(literally). I've never in all my Audible experience heard such pronounced breathing sounds, which for some reason the sound editors decided was appropriate. The first paragraph almost caused me to quit this one.

Nevertheless, I stuck it out. Alex Cross seemed impotent in this installment of the series. Can't solve the crimes. Can't stay focused on his personal loss. Can't keep himself from muttering under his breath in an effort to build suspense. It just didn't work very well, James Patterson.

Narrator

don't know, the narrator is too distracting to concentrate on the story

his

i'm not even half way...I guess story line is the redeeming quality

If I can swap out this book for the abridge version at not cost, it would help. I did learn a lesson...read reviewes and listen to a sample...I'll be doing this from now on.

This listen was extremely disappointing! I couldn’t wait for it to painfully grind to a final finish and had to stop listening about half way through.
The narrator was not an ideal choice in this instance. The nerve rash that I felt consumed any pleasure I may have gotten from a good story written by a brilliant writer.
Perhaps if a more talented or experienced narrator were contracted this could become a rescue and salvage success.

Wow! What a GREAT series!!! Alex Cross proves once again what a bad mother he is!!!

While I'm sure the story is as fantastic as the rest of James Patterson's novels are, I couldn't get past the first chapter! The narrator was boring, pretentious and read extremely slow! If I could get my money back for the book I would. Read this one the old fashioned way and download the next book in the series.

Don't hire this actor to read any more of his books!

The actor read too slowly, pausing deliberately after each sentence. It made him sound boring and pretentious. I made it through the 1st chapter and gave up.

Just start over with a different actor.

I liked the story and the author is one of my favorites, but the reader sighed after every sentence it was very distracting it was very hard to finish.

I always enjoy Alex Cross.

I Have listened to several Alex Cross books and all of the other readers have been excellent. I am not an audio file and not super fussy but this performance was just terrible.

If I were the sound editor I would have not let this performance be uncoached or unediited.

I am going to ask for a refund on this one.

It's been many, many years since I read a Patterson novel; I thought I remembered them as being pretty good. Apparently I've been confusing them with the movie "Kiss the Girls," which was maybe also mediocre but I like Morgan Freeman & Ashley Judd so much (especially together) that it seemed better than it was.

So, after a long hiatus, my reaction to his 1st book is, I'm really glad I didn't get the 2nd one, too. The writing was amateurish, the characters walking cliches who came out with excruciatingly trite/sappy/totally unreal, and utterly idiotic lines throughout. Nobody in history has ever talked the way the people in this book talk. The plot was so memorable that I had to go read the synopsis because I couldn't remember it (I finished the book last night). The whole thing suffers badly from what Roger Ebert calls The Idiot Plot, defined as "Any plot containing problems which would be solved instantly if all of the characters were not idiots.*"

Then there's the scene where Alex's theory that there's a serial killer is finally confirmed (everybody else was in denial). So he's believed at last and has backing and a task force and....he goes on vacation for a week. Say what?! That's not really an idiot element...I don't know what the heck to call it, except maybe "time for Alex to get a new job."

Much as I hate to say it, MIchael Kramer didn't add to the experience. He has a pleasant voice and minimalist, nearly deadpan delivery which works very well with Donald E Westlake's Dortmunder books (which are the only other things I've heard him read, & which I really enjoyed --book & reader). Unfortunately it doesn't work too well with this. Also, there was a character or two in Bermuda, and his attempt at a Bermooth accent was painful. I wouldn't expect much of anybody to know what a Bermudian accent sounded like if I didn't have some friends from there & had visited, but even a decent English-type accent would've been fine. Perhaps it was supposed to be English....? I dunno, but it was bad.

Two thumbs down.

*from "Ebert's Little Movie Glossary," 1994, p 52