I have to say, I'm trying really hard to get into James Patterson, on the premise that he must be such a huge, longtime bestselling author for a reason. I just can't seem to pin down that reason, except to suppose that in his horror/thrillers he does display some good mastermind plotting abilities. Certainly his writing is no feat of talent IMO, which may explain why I enjoyed the movie adaptations of Along Came A Spider and Kiss the Girls more than the lone Alex Cross book I read, Double Cross.
In his Romance genre, I've tried Sunday at Tiffany's and Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas. (These were all lent to me by my mom btw--I have a hard time passing up free reading material). In my previous post on Sunday at Tiffany's, I speculated that the "voice" of the main character was lent its charm and wit more by Patterson's coauthor, as said charm and wit was entirely absent from his Thrillers I read. But then, maybe Romance is really his opportunity to spread his wings so to speak and develop better dialog? Nope, SDfN just confirmed for me that Patterson is no great shakes at dialog, as that one was written alone. But boy, does he ever know how to pour on the syrup! Patterson's second talent, apparently, is his keen knack for idealized, iconic stereotypes of Perfect Boyfriend, Perfect Girlfriend, Saintly Mom, etc. whilst delivering a schmaltzly brand of emotionalism previously unheard of in seven countries. I found myself getting impatient about half way through, starting a chapter titled "Diary" and realizing after the first couple of sentences that it was yet another diabetic coma-inducing homage of Suzanne to her wonderful husband, her perfect baby, and how lucky she was to have such a good life. I began to skip paragraphs in frustration, something I rarely do. The "chemistry" between the lead characters is similarly so idealized as to have little flavor--these people never have arguments, never even snip at one another, the men always know the perfect thing to say and do, and their jokes are so cutesy I nearly gagged a few times. Yup, archetypes. Boring.
Well, maybe that's too hard on JP, there are clearly a lot of people that eat this stuff up and love it. I must lack the gene for sugar-appreciation or something. I merely like my fictional characters to have a third dimension now and again.
Could somebody please point me in the direction of a JP (perhaps his earlier Alex Cross stuff, as somebody suggested?) in which we can see noticeable character development, interesting dialog, descriptive details of any kind? I really want to know what all the fuss over him is all about. I'm willing to give JP one last shot, I will even buy the book if necessary!!
