Pop Goes the Weasel - Softcover

Patterson, James

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0755349334 ISBN 13: 9780755349333

Publisher: Headline, 2009

Synopsis

In POP GOES THE WEASEL, James Patterson has created a formidable villain every reader will see in the shadows when the lights are out, a tender love story, a plot powered by relentless suspense and psychological thrills kicked up to an all-time high.

'It's all just a game, darling. I play with three other men. Their names are FAMINE, WAR and CONQUEROR. My name is DEATH. You're a very lucky girl - I'm the best player of all.'

Geoffrey Shafter: a man who never loses, he is prepared to play the game of games for the highest stakes of all.

Alex Cross: senior Washington, DC homicide detective, he is determined, whatever the consequences, to unmask the man he has nicknamed the weasel, the prime suspect for a spate of killings that Cross has been forbidden to investigate.

About this title

Review:

Likened to a "young Muhammad Ali," Alex Cross, the Porsche-driving profiler, doctor, detective and father of two has seen his fair share of vicious killers. From a bloodthirsty butcher who came after his family (Cat and Mouse) to a devilish duo working cross-country (Kiss the Girls), Cross has managed to out-manoeuvre all of his enemies. Until he meets the Weasel.

A series of killings in the forgotten, crime-infested ghettos of Southeastern D.C. has sent Cross and his 6' 9" 250-pound-partner, John Sampson in search of the "Jane Doe" killer. However, their racist, tyrannical boss George Pitman orders them to stay out of the Southeast and investigate the high-profile murder of a wealthy white man. Cross already has suspicions that the murders are linked, but when Sampson's ex turns up in an abandoned Southeast warehouse kicked to death, the two detectives carry on with their original investigation.

Meanwhile, Cross's longtime love, Christine, (Cat and Mouse) has taken prominence in his life and it looks as if the two will finally get hitched--with one hitch: Cross leaves the force. Although Cross's instinct tells him to quit--to not put everything he loves in jeopardy again--he's compelled to catch the Weasel. Akin to a slick, Hollywood action flick, Pop Goes the Weasel doesn't have time for meaningful character development and thoughtful moral analysis. And it doesn't need to. Its winning formula is based in short scenes (chapters average about three pages), addictive plot progression and mean dialogue:

"Sampson sighed and said, 'I think her tongue is stapled inside the other girl. I'm pretty sure that's it, Alex. The Weasel stapled them together.' I looked at two girls and shook my head. 'I don't think so. A staple, even a surgical one, would come apart on the tongue's surface ... Crazy glue would work." --Rebekah Warren

Review:

'Probably the finest outing yet for Alex Cross, Patterson's sympathetic black Washington detective' The Times

Ticks like a time bomb - full of threat and terror (Los Angeles Times)

Brilliantly terrifying...so exciting I had to stay up all night to finish it (Daily Mail)

'A novel which makes for sleepless nights' Express

'Patterson's well-oiled suspense machine grinds away with solid precision' Publishers Weekly

'If there really were human superheroes, Alex Cross would be at the head of the class...and, with each instalment in the series, Patterson makes sure his superhero gets bigger and better while at the same time becomming more vulnerable.' (New York Times)

'Patterson dedicates his latest to 'the millions of Alex Cross readers who so frequently ask "Can't you write faster?" Those readers won't be disappointed: the successful formula is in high gear' Publishers Weekly

'Another brilliant tour de force' Books Magazines

'Cross is one of the best protagonists in the modern thriller genre, and one of the most likeable. Patterson has a unique gift of making the reader feel Cross's joys and pains' San Francisco Examiner

'Scott Turow couldn't do it. Neither could Stephen King. But James Patterson's Pop Goes the Weasel has finally managed to loosen Harry Potter's death grip on the top slots of the New York Times Bestseller List' Entertainment Weekly

'Alex Cross is back, and all those folks who have been champing at the bit can take a bite of the Weasel, one of James Patterson's nastiest villains' Denver Rocky Mountain News

'If you read the opening chapter of Pop Goes the Weasel-all three pages-you're hooked... Pop Goes the Weasel is easily one of the most believable and well written genre mysteries of 1999' www.bookpage.com

'James Patterson does it again. His latest, Pop Goes the Weasel, brings back his Washington, DC, detective, a crazed villain, and a page-turning plot. The man is the master of this genre. We fans will have one wish for him: Write even faster' USA Today

'In the James Patterson pantheon of villains, Geoffrey Shafer is quite possibly the worst... This one is fast and furious, and best of all, from the perspective of Alex Cross fans, Patterson leaves plenty of room for a sequel' Chicago Tribune

'The key to Patterson's success is pace - one damn thing or another is always happening, in a non-stop succession of very short chapters. Pop Goes the Weasel has 123 of them' Palm Beach Post

'This new novel is Patterson's best yet! Detective Alex Cross has found a new love as well as a series of murders in Washington, DC' The Sunday Oklahoman

'James Patterson has come up with a real humdinger of a chiller-thriller in Pop Goes the Weasel. His hero is Detective Alex Cross back by popular demand... Begin this one when you have a couple of hours to link together because you won't want to put it down' Fifty Plus Lifestyles

'There's no doubting the power of Patterson's imagination as yet again he comes up with an absolute winner of a plot in Pop Goes the Weasel' Calgary Sun

'There is high adventure and a high horror quotient to this story, whose finale is as horrid as one can imagine, both in deed and implication. Patterson has created the perfect page-turner for any dark and stormy night' The Patriot Ledger

'Unput-downable' The Sunday Times (Perth)

'Pop Goes the Weasel is gripping from the very first line and Patterson keeps ratcheting up the tension until you literally can't wait for the final terrifying denouement' The Courier Mail (Brisbane)

'Another powerful, edge-of-your-seat psychological thriller from Patterson' Sandton Chronicle, South Africa

'Patterson has written another corker. Indeed, can't he write faster?' Star, South Africa

'A cracking new thriller' Publishing News

'Absolutely terrific' Bookseller

'An exciting and suspenseful thriller' Midweek (New Zealand)

'An easy-to-read page-turner' Bay of Plenty Times

'A ripping page turner that will have you double-checking your locks and looking twice at shadows if you read it at night' Timaru Herald

About this edition

• Publisher: Headline
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0755349334
• ISBN 13: 9780755349333
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 512