"Pop Goes the Weasel" by James Patterson (Thriller, some spoilers)

This is another Alex Cross thriller. The plot follows a structure similar to an earlier Cross novel, "Along Came a Spider." Both novels involve the tracking down of a villain followed by an actual trial.


In this case, the villain is the "Weasel" of the title, a killer given this nickname by police. The Weasel's real name is Geoffrey Shafer, and it turns out that he works for the British Embassy. Which gives him an easy way to avoid justice, since he can claim diplomatic immunity for any crimes committed on American soil.


The killings committed by the Weasel are motivated by his insanity and his involvement in an on-line role-playing game, which crosses over into real life. Heh, I remember when I was a kid and "Dungeons and Dragons" became popular, there was some controversy over it because some parents got the idea that kids might take it too seriously and end up hurting themselves or some such thing. I don't think it was ever proven to be that dangerous, though.


Shafer's killings have an appearance of randomness at first, making it hard for the police to discern any pattern behind them, but Cross does start to suspect some of the seemingly disconnected slayings may be the work of the same person.


It turns out that Shafer's insanity is likely compounded by the cocktail of drugs he takes, supplied to him illegally by his mistress, a psychotherapist.


The story takes a very personal twist for Cross when his girlfriend, Christine Johnson, is abducted.


I did some net-surfing and found that this novel gets mixed reviews. Some people really liked it, others point out some logic glitches, which are possibly valid complaints. Like, in one part of the novel, when a police officer is on a stakeout, keeping an eye on Shafer by herself. Would any real police officer do such a job alone, with someone known to be as dangerous as Shafer? Also, a close examination of Shafer's crimes show possible ways evidence would have been left at the scene that isn't even mentioned or discussed.


I'm not an expert on police work or forensics, so I'm not in a position to comment, but I guess questions like that could undermine the book's credibility for some readers.


It's still very entertaining, though, with Patterson's trademark fast-paced plot, a nasty villain and lots of twists and turns.