Onyx reviews: Pop Goes the Weasel by James Patterson

Reviewed by Bev Vincent
Originally published in the Conroe Courier

The police have dubbed him "The Weasel," but the serial killer in Patterson's latest thriller thinks of himself as Death. A spy masquerading as a British diplomat, Geoffrey Shafer is part of an ongoing Internet roll-playing game called 'The Four Horsemen'. The other players, Conqueror, War and Famine, do not know the extent to which Shafer's fantasies are based on reality.

Shafer suffers from bipolar disorder. He takes an impressive array of self-prescribed medications. The 20-sided game dice he uses to choose his victims and the risk level of his crime are never far from his side. He takes playing Death seriously.

Alex Cross, Patterson's recurring protagonist (played by Morgan Freeman in the movie version of Kiss the Girls), has impeccable credentials. He is a senior detective with the Washington D.C. police department, has a Ph. D. in psychology, is department liaison with the FBI and is a well-respected criminal profiler. He has well-adjusted children, a maternal housekeeper and a loving girlfriend. He also has a knack for detecting serial killers.

His supervisor, George Pittman, is threatened by Cross' success and uninterested when the detective tries to tie together a series of similar killings in the predominantly black ghetto of southeast D.C. Pittman is carrying out a surreptitious investigation of Cross, looking for grounds to fire him from the force. Against direct orders, Cross continues the inquiry, with the help of several coworkers.
Shafer's mania yanks him between homicidal rages and bouts of self-destructive behavior. He knows Cross is on his trail and uses his diplomatic immunity to taunt the police. He does his best to destroy Cross' career in a high-profile, O.J. Simpson-like trial.

Cross has serious personal problems of his own. While vacationing in Bermuda with his family, his girlfriend Christine goes missing. Cross receives an anonymous warning to back off from his investigation if he ever wants to see her again. In spite of this, he carries on his relentless pursuit of Shafer while dealing with the months-long disappearance. This is not the first time that a serial killer has made a case personal for Cross.

Patterson's style is distinctive, which is not necessarily a compliment. He has a tendency to mix viewpoints. Cross tells his story in first person while other major characters are shown in third person. The transition between the two can be very jarring, especially since chapters are only 3 to 4 pages in length, on average. In previous books, he has experimented with dual first person viewpoints.
The story, though, races at breakneck speed. The immediacy of the action is, perhaps, enhanced by the quick chapter changes in much the same way that intensity in a movie is increased through fast camera cuts and short scenes.

The characters are not very complex. Cross is a paragon of virtue. Shafer, the psychotic
murderer is more interesting than the detective, but is just another in a long line of incredibly intelligent, seemingly invulnerable villains. Cross' children are sparkling clean and well-behaved. Pittman is a racist without redeeming qualities.

The novel contains a glaring continuity error. At two different points, within the span of a mere 40 pages, Cross informs his children and housekeeper that Christine has accepted his marriage proposal. Both times the family reacts to this news as if they had never heard it before. Perhaps the characters skipped the three-page chapter where that news was revealed the first time.

Web site and all contents © Copyright Bev Vincent 2007. All rights reserved.