Mystery/Crime Fiction

» shelfmonkey - Am I the only one who can't stand him?

Exactly, but it's not just the short chapters (although Patterson and Brown have not exactly endeared me to that particular trick). Yes, these are works designed for ADD sufferers, but there's more to it. There's no tension, no imagination. Patterson (at least in the Cross novels I've read), switches back and forth from first-person Cross narrative to third-person psycho-killer perspective. So, we get no sense of intrigue. If it's Cross we're suppposed to care about, then let's follow him. Otherwise, it's lazy. One of the books I read (can't remember which) went on and on about how smart Cross was, and yet he didn't figure out anything, it all happened, and he just lucked into a solution. There was no mystery, no sleuthing, no triumph of investigative techniques.

And, Cross is BORING. Man, when we've got Ed McBain, Ian Rankin, John Harvey, Elmore Leonard, and PD James, why would we ever want to read Patterson?

-- posted by shelfmonkey