The Big Bad Wolf

Starred review from October 6, 2003
In a recent column in Entertainment Weekly
, Stephen King cited Patterson's thrillers as the
example of "dopey" bestsellers. We hope that doesn't mean that those who enjoy them are dopes, because this new one is vastly entertaining. Alex Cross, Patterson's black lawman hero, has left the D.C. police force for the FBI. But Cross was a star cop, so when the Bureau becomes aware that attractive white women are disappearing at an unusually high rate in the nation's capital, Cross, despite still being in training at Quantico, is brought onto the case and is personally mentored by the Bureau's director, earning the ire of some Feds but the support of others. Behind the disappearances is a sexual slavery operation run as a sideline by one of the more believable and most compellingly evil villains in the Patterson universe, the Wolf, a mysterious former KGB man who's now the world's top mobster. The narrative throughout is swift and varied, as Patterson cuts among the diabolical schemes of a Russian magnate who may be the Wolf, the plight of several kidnap victims, the dogged pursuit by Cross and company of the Wolf, and the hideous designs of the members of an encrypted computer chat room who pay the Wolf fortunes to snatch women who fit their fantasies. And there's domestic drama, too, as the mother of Cross's young son, Alex, decides that she wants her boy back. Full of plot surprises and featuring a balanced mix of intrigue, hard action and angst, the novel, on which Patterson notably does not share cover credit, grips from start to finish. The Alex Cross series remains Patterson's finest, and this is the finest Cross in years. Maybe we're dopes, but we're smiling ones.

November 15, 2003
There is something to be said for consistency. Alex Cross is back, and even though he's newly employed by the FBI, everything still feels familiar and right. "Club Fed" training is going as well as one would expect, Nana is still making the best coffee in town, and Alex is still feeling guilty about his workaholic ways. When the wife of a federal judge is kidnapped, making it FBI business, Alex is pulled out of class and sent to the crime scene, creating an interesting dichotomy of newly minted federal agent/star. It turns out to be just the latest in a string of such kidnappings, and the FBI suspects a possible white slavery ring. Topping the list of suspects is the Russian Red Mafiya king, who has been shaking things up with La Cosa Nostra. Things are bumpy at home, too-a custody dispute emerges when Little Alex's mom blows into town. There are no tidy endings here, just an engrossing story that will leave readers clamoring for the sequel. The Big Bad Wolf is the biggest, baddest Alex Cross novel in years. Strongly recommended for all public libraries.-Stacy Alesi, Southwest Cty. Regional Lib., Boca Raton, FL

Copyright 2003 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2003
Alex Cross finally took the plunge at the end of "Four Blind Mice" (2002) and joined the FBI. The training is a little beneath Cross, who has spent years working with the FBI on the toughest cases, but he dutifully attends classes until he's pulled out to consult on a case. Wealthy women have been disappearing around the country. The latest, a judge's wife, was snatched at a shopping mall. It appears these women (and soon several young men as well) are being abducted and sold to people who have "selected" them and paid a hefty sum. The man behind it all is a Russian known only as the Wolf. Cross gets a break when one of the buyers releases the woman he paid to have abducted, but when they track him down, they find he's committed suicide. Then a major bombshell in his personal life distracts Cross from the case: his ex-girlfriend Christine, the mother of his youngest son, has reappeared, and she wants custody. Cross' first major case with the FBI will have readers on the edge of their seats, swiftly turning the pages to the exciting showdown. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2003, American Library Association.)

February 2, 2004
Unlike the original Big Bad Wolf, Patterson's newest and arguably most fear-inspiring villain maims, slaughters and kidnaps victims for purposes of sexual slavery. Rumored to be a Russian émigré, this shrewd predator has made crime pay so fabulously he sits atop an empire capable of accomplishing any nefarious purpose, including attacks on the homes of high-ranking FBI officials. Despite having just joined the Bureau, series hero Alex Cross winds up hunting the Wolf, which puts his family in peril. Meanwhile, his former girlfriend decides she wants custody of their young son. Patterson, a master at suspenseful twists and turns, keeps the action non-stop by constantly shifting among Alex's first-person tribulations and punchy, objectively told sequences focusing on Wolf, several ultra-wealthy computer chat group slugs who are taking The Story of O
much too seriously, and the chat group members' struggling victims. The effectiveness of these quick changes is heightened by the use of dual readers. Theater and TV actor Fernandez has a warm, rich voice that provides Cross with a soulful dimension often absent from the author's prose, and O'Hare (a Tony Award winner for the hit play Take Me Out
) handles the other chores, satisfactorily running the gamut from Russian-accented growls to effete simpers. Their all-pro rendering of this smartly paced thriller almost makes up for the fact that major plot strings are left tantalizingly untied. Simultaneous release with the Little, Brown hardcover (Forecasts, Oct. 6, 2003).