Review: Along Came a Spider by James Patterson

Along Came a Spider by James Patterson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Published: July 2009 (audiobook)

Gary Soneji has just kidnapped two children from the school he was teaching at in Washington, D.C. Not just any children, but children who are being protected by Secret Service. What is the purpose, what does he want? When one of the children ends up dead, Soneji has to change his plans, and then they have to change again, when one of the children is kidnapped from him. How is he going to play this? He is either really smart or really demented and there is only one person who can find out the truth, Detective Alex Cross.

This is the first book in the Alex Cross series. Normally, I am not a person who does a re-read, but I have wanted to read this series from the beginning for a while. I have read a couple of books in the series, but not in order and I've found that I have grown to be a stickler for reading a series in order.

I don't know what I would do if someone took my kids. I always say that if someone did take them, they would give them back right away, but we have no idea. Alex Cross works tirelessly for months to find the missing children. With a twist I certainly forgot about that leaves you hooked until the last sentence. If you have never read an Alex Cross novel, this is the first in the series and a great place to start.

I'm glad I read the book again, I didn't remember a lot of what happened. Now I'm hoping I will be able to find the movie to watch. We all know the book is usually better than the movie.



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To learn more about this book or to order a copy, click the book cover below:

Winning Wednesday--Bookish Giveaways

Happy Wednesday book friends!!  We've made it half way through the week.  Did you get a day off this week for President's Day?  I did and it was lovely, although I feel like my whole week is off.  But enough of my jabbering, let's get to the good stuff GIVEAWAYS!!!

**What 'Cha Readin'?  is not responsible for the giveaways in this email, unless specified.  Please see the official rules of each contest for more information on how to enter!**

Enter for your chance to win three new horror books.  Brought to you by The Line Up

The Sun Down Motel, a haunting new ghost story by the award-winning author of The Broken Girls Simone St. James 

The Boatman's Daughter, a fresh tale of ethereal terror by In the Valley of the Sun author Andy Davidson 

Those Across the River, a new paperback edition of award-winning author Christopher Buehlman's southern Gothic nightmare 

Open to US Residents Only -- Ends Feb. 24th

Enter for your chance to win The Office Sweepstakes.  Brought to you by Penguin Random House. 

One lucky winner will receive the ultimate fan bundle for The Office—including copies of the upcoming and recently published books The Office and Inside Dunder Mifflin, a 2020 Calendar of The Office Characters, The Office World's Best Boss Dunder Mifflin Ceramic Mug, Dunder Cards—the Full The Office TV Show Card Game, and a Shrute Farms Tee.

Open to US Residents Only -- Ends March 15th

Enter for your chance to win 1 of 200 advanced copies of Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas.  Brought to you by Harper Collins.  

Open to US Residents only -- Ends Feb. 20th

Enter for your chance to win the latest Jack Reacher novels by Lee Child.

Blue Moon

Past Tense

The Midnight Line

Brought to you by Ted Galdi. 

Open Internationally except for Taiwan, South Korea, Portugal, Italy, Austria, China, Russia, Hong Kong, Greece, France, Japan, Spain, and Czech Republic -- Ends Feb. 24th. 

Enter for your chance to win 1 of 5 advanced copies of these three titles

How Ike Led by Susan Eisenhower

The Hunting of Hillary by Michael D'Antonio

George Washington, Entrepreneur by John Berlau

Brought to you by Macmillan

Open to US Residents Only -- Ends Feb. 29th

Enter for your chance to the Book Club Sweestakes.  Brought to you by Hachette.  One winner will receive a hard cover of:

Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton 

The Great Pretender by Susannah Cahalan 

A Bend in the Stars by Rachel Barenbaum 

Conviction by Denise Mina

Circe by Madeline Miller 

and one paperback copy each of 

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee 

In Pieces by Sally Field
Where’d You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple

Less by Andrew Sean Greer

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt 

Open to US Residents Only -- Ends Feb. 29th

Enter for your chance to win one of 10 early copies of The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles.  Brought to you by Simon & Schuster

Open to US Residents Only -- Ends Feb. 29th

Enter for your chance to win one of 10 copies of The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali.  Brought to you by Simon & Schuster

Open to US Residents Only -- Ends Feb. 29th

Enter for your chance to win an Amazon Echo.  Brought to you by BookDoggy

Does not specify who can win -- Ends March 7th

Enter for your chance to win a $100 Etsy gift card for you and a friend.  Contest is on Instagram, so you will have to be signed up to enter.  

Open to Residents of the US, Canada (excl. Quebec), France, Germany, Australia, the United Kingdom, and India -- Ends Feb. 20th

Enter for your chance to win one of five hardcover copies of Lost by James Patterson.  Brought to you by James Patterson.

Open to Residents of US and Canada (excl. Quebec) -- Ends Feb. 21st

Enter for you chance to win one of 10 copies of Side Trip by Kerry Lonsdale.  Contest is on Goodreads, so you have to be signed in to enter.

Open to US Residents Only -- Ends March 14th

Enter for your chance to win one of 30 galley copies of The Request by David Bell.  Brought to you by Berkley.

Open to US Residents Only -- Ends March 1st

Enter for your chance to win one of 25 advanced copies of The Lies That Bind by Emily Giffin.  This contest is on Goodreads so you will have to be signed in to enter. 

Open to US Residents Only -- Ends March 1st

INSTANT WINNER!!!!

Enter for your chance to instantly win  a free, three volume set of Blair Howard’s Starter Library. Harry Starke Book 1; Jasmine, The Lt Kate Gazzara Novels Book 1; and Harry Starke Genesis Book 1

Plus your entry all gives you the opportunity to win the Grand Prize of a Kindle Paperwhite with a Built-in Front Light and three more ebooks of your choice from the Harry Starke series.

Open Internationally, except for Taiwan, South Korea, Portugal, Italy, Austria, China, Russia, Hong Kong, Greece, France, Japan, Spain, and Czech Republic -- Ends Feb. 21st

Enter for your chance to win one of 15 copies of The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany by Lori Nelson Spielman.  Brought to you by Berkley

Open to US Residents -- Ends Feb. 25th

January Readin' Roundup!

Books I Read in January!!

2020 started off really great.  I was able to read 8 books in January.  All of them were pretty good and I would recommend them all.  My favorite of the month was A Love Hate Thing by Whitney Grandison and my least favorite was The 13-Minute Murder by James Patterson.   Here is my take on all of the books I read in January.  Click on the book covers below to order the book and the title, to read my full review.   Please share with me your favorite books of January. 

Husband Material by Emily Belden
4 Stars
For the past five years Charlotte Rosen has been living her life, trying to develop a dating app and living with a roommate. When her dead husband's ashes show up on her front door step, she's not sure what to do with them or her life. As she tries to make decisions about the ashes as well as her life, secrets come to the surface that she would never expect. Did she know her husband as well as she thought she did? Will she be able to move on with her life with the ashes or will it bring everything to a screeching halt?




The Gifted School by Bruce Holsinger
4 Stars
The city of Crystal, Colorado is an affluent community in the state of Colorado. When a new public school for gifted students is slated to open just in time for the upcoming school year, close friends will put everything on the line to ensure that their children make the cut. Because out of the 100,000 students who are eligible to apply, only 1000 will gain entrance to the school. Who is smart enough to make the cut and what lengths will the parents and guardians go through to make sure their child is part of the elite who make it into the school.



A Love Hate Thing by Whitney Grandison
5 Stars
When Tyson Trice reappears in Nandy Smith's life 10 years after she had last seen him, she knew right away, he wasn't that same seven year old boy she used to play with. Trice is coming to live with the Smith's after the tragic death of his parents. He is angry and hurting and this is the last place he wants to be. But will he be able to come out of his funk and find the friendship he once had with Nandy? Will he be able to step away from his old life and try to build a new one with these people who are nothing like him?



The 13-Minute Murder by James Patterson
3 Stars
This book was actually three different stories in one.
The first is Dead Man Running:
This book featured Dr. Randall Beck who is a psychiatrist who is also dying of brain cancer. Most of his patients are dealing with some type of traumatic event that he is helping them work through. When a new client shows up at his office and then is gunned down right after the appointment, Dr. Beck has lots of questions, but he's not getting the answers. In order to get the answers, he will have to risk his own life and the life of others in order to find out what is going on.

Next Was 113 Minutes:
When Molly Rourke gets the call that her son has had an overdose at school, the first thing she does is call her brothers because she knows she can't handle this news on her own. They spend the next few months trying to figure out who was behind his death and getting their revenge. There are a lot of surprises in this story.

Finally 13-Minute Murder:
Michael Ryan is given a job to kill a coed in the middle of Harvard. When the job is done, he is determined to find out who ordered the hit. His partner doesn't want to say, but when Ryan uncovers the truth, it's almost too good to be true. He can execute the perfect murder in 13 minutes, but it may take more than that to bring down all the players involved in this.




Tweet Cute by Emma Lord
4 Stars
It's Pepper and Jack's senior year. Pepper is trying to stay on top of her grades and be captain of the swim team. Jack is living in the shadows of his twin brother, Ethan, while helping his family with their deli. Each of their families owns a restaurant, but Pepper's family has gone national. The Twitter battle between the two restaurants will fall into the hands of these young adults. But even though they know each other from school, they don't know that the other is on the other side of the battle. What will happen when it's all laid out on the table?




The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows
4 Stars
Juliet Ashton has just published her first book in 1946 and her publisher is eager for her to start on the next one. Her book was a great relief during war time. But she's having trouble coming up with a subject that is interesting to her and will keep her readers entertained. When she receives a letter from a man name Dawsey who found her in a book he had by Charles Lamb, they begin a correspondence. When Dawsey tells her about his book club, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society Juliet is intrigued and wants to learn more about the group. Each member writes her a letter to explain how they became a part of the group. Juliet is so enthralled by their stories, she feels she has to go to Guernsey so she can write a book about this group. Told through a series of letters, telegrams, and packages we learn about Juliet's journey from London to Guernsey.



The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates
3 Stars
Hiram Walker was born into slavery. He doesn't remember much about his mother except that she was taken from him at a very young age. Hiram was born with special gifts, that he discovers when his life is in danger. Will he have to continue to live a life of slavery, or will he find a way out of his situation and find out what happened to his mother.





The Guilty by David Baldacci
4 Stars
Will Robie has just completed a mission when he finds out that his father has been arrested for murder. Instead of stopping his work then and there, he decides to go on the next mission available, but he is is not successful. Is it because of the details of the previous mission or because of the news that he received that he is unable to complete the mission. Ordered to take some time off, he heads back to Cantrell, Mississippi to find out what is really going on with his father. But when you haven't been back to a place without any word in nearly 20 years, it's not so easy to find the answers you're looking for. Is Will able to find out who is really to blame for the murder and will he be able to mend the relationship with his father.



So there you have it.  Here's what I'm looking forward to in February: