Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Not Quite a Review - I, ALEX CROSS by James Patterson (audio book)




Publisher: Hachette Audio
Category: Fiction, Suspense & Thrillers
Format: Audio Book
Subformat: CD (Audio)
Edition: Unabridged
Publish Date: 11/16/2009
Price: $39.98/$49.98
ISBN: 9781600247682
Pages: 0

Description (from the publisher):

You can't runDetective Alex Cross is pulled out of a family celebration and given the awful news that a beloved relative has been found brutally murdered. Alex vows to hunt down the killer, and soon learns that she was mixed up in one of Washington's wildest scenes. And she was not this killer's only victim.

You can't hide

The hunt for her murderer leads Alex and his girlfriend, Detective Brianna Stone, to a place where every fantasy is possible, if you have the credentials to get in. Alex and Bree are soon facing down some very important, very protected, very dangerous people in levels of society where only one thing is certain--they will do anything to keep their secrets safe.

Alex Cross is your only hope to stay alive

As Alex closes in on the killer, he discovers evidence that points to the unimaginable--a revelation that could rock the entire world. With the unstoppable action, unforeseeable twists, and edge-of-your-seat suspense that only a James Patterson thriller delivers,
I, Alex Cross is the master of suspense at his sharpest and best.

Click here to listen to an excerpt.

Click here to read an excerpt.

Click here to visit the author's website.

My Rating:  Shouldn't - Wouldn't - Couldn't (Finish, that is)

My Thoughts: Nothing in the description of this story prepared me for the all-too-frequently-mentioned means of disposing of dead bodies: the woodchipper. Two discs in, and I'm pulling the plug on this one. Gory as the concept is, if it had just been mentioned once or twice, I could have dealt with it, cataloging the information and moving on. Trouble is, the machine has been used at least half a dozen times so far, with the clear inference of long-term use before the story even begins. Ugh!

Generally, I like a good thriller as long as things don't get too sadistic or squishy. I've listened to other Patterson books on audio and enjoyed them. With this one, though, I really felt my stomach turn. I kept asking myself why I didn't just turn it off. I even put it aside and listened to something else and then gave it another try. No go. It just made me sick.

Sure, I want to know who the bad guy turns out to be, but I'll peek at the ending of the print version at the library. With a book, you have the option of skimming over the parts you don't want to dwell on, but  that's not so easy with audiobooks. I'll trust that Alex Cross sees some sort of justice done and leave this story to those whose sensibilities (and stomachs) are tougher than mine. 

Thank you to Anna and Hachette Book Group
for supplying my review copy.

5 comments:

bermudaonion said...

Yeah, I've found that gory things that I don't mind reading don't work so well on audios.

Just Mom said...

I have the same issue except for me it is the sex more than the gore. I guess I do more skimming that I realize of that stuff when I am reading print - not possoble with audio!

Zibilee said...

I am not a big Patterson fan, so I am going to be skipping this one, but all that use of the woodchipper would have bothered me as well.

Anonymous said...

Interesting. Patterson seems to be getting a bit morbid and gory. My husband and I tried to listen to swimsuit and had to quit part way into the second disc. Neither of us said anything (we were in the car, stopped somewhere, and just never restarted it). It was really disturbing. A couple of days later I asked if he wanted to listen to it and discovered my DH felt the same way. In this case, it was the cold blooded way the bad guys saw and dealt with people. Really scary that psychopaths like that are out there.
Thanks for the warning. I love audio books, but your point about skipping the parts you don't want to deal with is a valid one.

Ann said...

Yep, I'm the same way, just about done with Patterson. I tried to start his new book Don't Blink. Got through three chapters and am now done. Enough.