by James Patterson

Little, Brown, November, 2003.
Hardcover, 390 pages.
ISBN: 0316602906

A series of kidnappings with no ransoms perplexes Alex Cross and his fellow FBI agents. Both men and women have been kidnapped in places like shopping mall parking lots and have later turned up dead. The victims were all tortured before they died. Apparently, they are being kidnapped by a Mob-type network and given to psychopaths who pay a high price to have them as slaves for their own satisfaction. The monster believed to be behind the kidnappings is a criminal mastermind known as the Wolf, who is ruthless beyond belief and has never been photographed. Alex Cross must rise above the fray of bureaucratic disputes and solve the puzzle of the Wolf before more innocents are tortured and killed.

The Big Bad Wolf is one of James Patterson's best novels. The story tells a tale of problems occurring in today's world: the rise of the Russian mafia and the kidnapping of college and suburban men and women for the pleasure of a psychotic buyer. The Wolf, a psychotic Russian mobster, is a crude and dangerous, yet fascinating character. And Alex Cross' battles with FBI bureau heads are interesting and believable. This is an exciting thriller from beginning to end that will stick with you long after you have finished reading.

The Big Bad Wolf is available for purchase on Amazon.com

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This review was published in the January-February, 2004 of The Internet Writing Journal.

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