Along Came a Spider (25th Anniversary Edition)

By: James Patterson

Narrated by: Taye Diggs

Length: 11 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's Summary

Discover the classic thriller that launched the number-one detective series of the past 25 years, now one of PBS's "100 Great American Reads".

Alex Cross is a homicide detective with a PhD in psychology. He works and lives in the ghettos of D. C. and looks like Muhammad Ali in his prime. He's a tough guy from a tough part of town who wears Harris Tweed jackets and likes to relax by banging out Gershwin tunes on his baby grand piano. But he also has two adorable kids of his own, and they are his own special vulnerabilities.

Jezzie Flanagan is the first woman ever to hold the highly sensitive job as supervisor of the Secret Service in Washington. Blond, mysterious, and seductive, she's got an outer shell that's as tough as it is beautiful. She rides her black BMW motorcycle at speeds of no less than 100 mph. What is she running from? What is her secret?

Alex Cross and Jezzie Flanagan are about to have a forbidden love affair - at the worst possible time for both of them. Because Gary Soneji, who wants to commit the "crime of the century," is playing at the top of his game. Soneji has outsmarted the FBI, the Secret Service, and the police. Who will be his next victim?

Gary Soneji is every parent's worst nightmare. He has become Alex Cross's nightmare. And now, listener, he's about to become yours.

©1993, 2018 James Patterson (P)2018 Hachette Audio

Critic Reviews

"Patterson's storytelling talent is in top form in this grisly escapist yarn." (Library Journal)

"Brilliantly terrifying! So exciting that I had to stay up all night to finish it! Packed with white-knuckle twists." (Daily Mail)

"An incredibly suspenseful read with a one-of-a-kind villain who is as terrifying as he is intriguing." (Clive Cussler)

Not who you think

I love this book. The narrator was awesome. I was easy to get into and stay in tune throughout. This book did not waste any time with capturing my attention. The first chapter went directly into jaw dropping thriller.

MC Patterson fan

The story was good but the narrator was terrible. I am a Patterson fan but this was tough to listen to.

Outstanding Drama; BUT Read NOT Narrated

This was a excellent Novel with emotional highs and lows and an ending that would make Alfred Hitchcock proud.
If ‘reader" (and that’s all he was0 made this novel almost impossible to follow. It was read in an emotionless monotone with little if any different inflection between characters. Too often I had to back up to figure out who was talking.
I remember enjoying this book much more when I originally read it.

The narration spoiled it for me.

I was very much looking forward to this story comment but the narration is hideous. After a quick search for an alternate narrator, of an unabridged version, I decided to read the reviews. There are enough negative reviews regarding the narration come of that I have no desire to invest the time in this book.

Good Story Ruined by Poor Narration

When there is so much voice talent out there in the world, why would you match a great story and award-winning author with such poor narration? I don't know Mr. Diggs' resume for such work, but he is incapable of shifting between characters and his voice is really quite monotone for most of this work. Disappointing!

Good Read

Good book, enjoyed the story. It was suspenseful and easy to follow. The narration left a little to be desired.

The book is good but the reader is not.

This story is complex and enticing. The reader put weird inflections into his interpretation. In many places his pace is pedantic and very off.

Great book, with subpar narration.

You either love Patterson or you don't. I am not one of his biggest fans, but I do enjoy most of his books. This one is one of his best. I did not care for the narration, though. I felt like Tase Diggs just did not get what the author had in mind as he wrote the book. Very disconnected.

Taye Diggs was awful!

This production would have been a lot better if the narrator wasn’t so terrible! Love Taye Diggs the actor, but as a narrator....NO. Completely monotone, zero vocal changes between characters and he reads like we are all Kindergartners. Save yourself the 11 hours and just watch the movie.

Narration

Taye Diggs was fantastic as a narrator for this genre. I would like to hear him do more. I enjoyed the story itself immensely.