Along Came A Spider Essay, Research Paper

James Patterson wrote Along Came A Spider. The genre is adult fiction. It is a good novel because it has a great mystery in it. This novel also has a lesson in it. The lesson is not to tie your family up with your work. The setting in this novel takes place in Washington DC from 1932-1934.

Gary Soneji, (a.k.a. Gary Murphy) is a serial killer who kidnapped two children, Maggie Rose, the golden-haired daughter of a famous movie actress. The other child was Shrimpie Goldberg, the son of the Secretary of the Treasury. Gary Soneji dragged these two kids from place to place all over Washington. When Gary is Gary Soneji, he commits crimes all the time. When Gary is Gary Murphy, he is the perfect little angel who loves his family. When he’s one Gary, he can’t remember the other Gary. Gary Soneji kidnapped these two kids for a ransom of 3 million dollars. Alex Cross is a detective who is out to get Gary. Gary Soneji went after Alex’s kids, so Alex chased Gary around Washington and killed him in cold blood. This novel shows person vs. person (Gary Soneji vs. Everyone) and person vs. self (Gary Soneji vs. Gary Murphy).

The setting in this novel takes place in the USA, mostly Washington DC. The time period was from 1932-1934. The setting is important because it took place in the projects, where lots of crimes were being committed all the time.

One minor character in this novel is Sampson. Sampson knows Alex Cross better than his own two kids. This is because Sampson is Alex’s partner in the police force. Sampson hates Gary Soneji just as much as the next person, but unlike Alex, Sampson is afraid of Gary. Sampson doesn’t have a wife or kids, so he hangs out at Alex’s house a lot. Another minor character is Jezzie Flanagan. She is Alex and Sampson’s boss at the police station. She supports them 100%. Jezzie had an affair with Alex at the end of the novel. They went to Cuba for two months for “POLICE BUISNESS.”

I would say that the main character is Alex Cross. I say this because from start to finish, he’s in every chapter. Alex has two kids and he is divorced. He works as the head at the police department. His partner is Sampson and his boss is Jezzie Flanagan. He lives in Washington DC in the projects. He isn’t afraid of anything. He also acts as a doctor because he has to help Gary Murphy in therapy. He can talk anyone into doing anything. Alex is also kind to his community because he donates money to charities a lot.

This novel is a great mystery, not only do you want to know about Gary Soneji/Murphy, you also want to find out about Alex and Jezzie. The only thing that I would change about this book is the time period. James Patterson should have modernized the date a bit. Overall, this was an excellent book to read.

in the book report