Talk Back

[edting]

James Patterson is right up there with Stephen King and John Grisham in terms of sales. This is my first Patterson book, and it’s one of my “airplane books.”

Judging by what I’ve seen, James Patterson writes thrillers for adults with a fifth grade education, with an attention span to match. A glance at some of his other book titles gives you an idea of how simplistic the writing is:

Violets Are Blue
Roses Are Red
Pop Goes The Weasel
Jack & Jill
Along Came a Spider
Cradle And All
Hide & Seek

The chapters are short – real short. Two or three pages for most of them, and some chapters are only one page long. Most of the chapters end on at least a minor cliffhanger, so you’ll turn the page and read the next one. Does a book with 339 pages really need 111 chapters? Add to this the simplistic sentence structure (big words are avoided), large font, and generous margins, and you have a book you can read in one or two sittings.

This is assembly line, cookie cutter writing. There’s a hero and a villain and it takes place in San Francisco, but none of seems to matter much because you just don’t care about it. I’ll bet if I picked up another one of Patterson’s books it would be the same except with different names and locations.

None of this strives for excellence on any level.

Having said all this, it's an ideal airplane book. It's slightly better than looking out the window.

[jeffp]

Gee, Ed. Can't you tell us what you really think?

--jeffp