By James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge
Read by Bobby Cannavale and Scott Sowers
Hachette Audio, (2011)
An Unabridged Recording on 6 CDs
ISBN: 978-1607888796
Genre: Thriller
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Tick Tock By James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge Read by Bobby Cannavale and Scott Sowers Hachette Audio, (2011) An Unabridged Recording on 6 CDs ISBN: 978-1607888796 Genre: Thriller |
Reviewed by Israel Drazin - May 23, 2011
How should readers evaluate books by James Patterson? There are people who criticize James Patterson books for two reasons. First, he produces more than the usual single book a year that people expect from fiction writers. They contend that no one can produce more than a single good book a year. Trying to write more, they claim, results in poor books. Second, they criticize Mr. Patterson for not producing "good quality literature." Many of his sentences, they say, should have been written better. Both of these criticisms are unfair.
James Patterson has written that his goal is to be a good story teller, and this is how his writings should be evaluated. Does he tell a good story? Does the story hold our interest? Do we find ourselves caught up in the plot, the characters, the suspense? Does he write clearly? Do we understand what he is telling us? Do a large segment of people like his tales? If the answers to these questions, or most of them, are "yes," then he is clearly a good writer. It should be obvious that when telling a story one does not have to use perfect English. In fact, the use of imperfect English may make the story more interesting. Secondly, it is unfair, even illogical to say that a person can't tell more than one good story a year. Patterson is not the only writer who has produced many books. It makes more sense to judge each story on its own. He may tell six great tales in a row in a single year and then tell only one the following year that is not interesting.
This is the fourth book that James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge coauthored featuring Michael Bennett. There are many interesting aspects to the tale. Bennett is the top expert on terrorist activities. He has ten children of different races that he and his wife adopted prior to her death. His relationship with his kids is excellent although difficult. In this novel he has to decide which female he wants: a fellow officer or the woman who is helping him care for his kids. The criminal is this case is weird. He kills many people seemingly indiscriminately, but is this true? Does he have a purpose? Why does each killing mimic the murders of prior mass murderers?
