Great book on tape to capture your attention and keep you excited and interested. The bad guy reader was exceptionally good. I like the new hero character, Mike Bennett and think his Irish family was a nice addition. His wife dies in this book so it will be interesting to see where the author goes with him romantically. ( )

This a Mike Bennett novel. Mike is new character from the NYC PD. He has 10 kids and his wife is dying of cancer. As she dies and her father and a relative help take care of the kids while Mike is in the midst of a hostage crisis at St. Patrick cathedral. The hostages are all high all high profile, prestigious, and wealthy people. A group of Sing - Sing guards and a lead hostage negotiator are responsible. ( )

James Patterson introduces us to a new character with STEP ON A CRACK, NYPD Homicide Detective Michael Bennett. A former hostage negotiator, Bennett finds himself once again dealing with psychopaths when the celebrities attending former First Lady Caroline Hopkins' funeral are held hostage.

I have to say that the actual meat of the story, the hijacking of St. Patrick's church and its funeral-attending creme de la creme of society, was an intriguing storyline. What weighed the story down, at least for me, was that fact that Michael Bennett wasn't a character I could easily relate to.

It isn't the fact that his wife, Maeve, is dying of cancer, or even that they have ten adopted children. It's not Maeve's seemingly long-lost cousin, Mary Catherine, who shows up out of the blue to serve as the couple's au pair. It's not even Michael's grandfather, the crusty yet heart-of-gold Irish priest. No, the problem is that all of these characters, who could have made the story emotional and heartbreaking, seem to do nothing more than serve as filler.

The ten children are interchangeable. Mary Catherine could be nominated for the sainthood. And Seamus, the grandfather, could be any number of wise-cracking old codgers from one of today's sitcoms.

I'll read the next Bennett book when it comes out, mostly out of the hope that the secondary storyline will be as compelling as the main plot. We'll have to see. For fans of Patterson, this is one you'll want to read, but I'd advise checking it out from the library before plunking down the cold hard cash to purchase it in hardcover. ( )

This was a very ho-hum book. It put a lot of focus on Mike's family life, and I just couldn't get into that; I didn't identify with the characters. I felt no sorrow, no affection, nothing. 2.5 out of 5 times that when someone mistakes you for a teacher, you've got too many fricking kids. ( )

mike bennett has 10 kids and his wife is dieing of cancer. She dies and her father and a relative of her help take care of the kids while mike is in the midst of a hostage crisis. All high prestiegious and rich people are the hostages. They are held in a church, where they were burying the former presidents wife. I enjoyed Alec Cross maybe a little better than Mike Bennett. ( )

A new series by Patterson, following a NYPD detective, Michael Bennett, as he is thrust into a high stakes hostage situation during the holiday season, leaving his wife in the hospital and ten kids at home.

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this new series, but I came out fully enjoying it. It started right off with mystery and intrigue and continued on the edge for the entire book. This was one mystery that was hard to predict, not only who the killers were but who was going to be killed next.

This is one series I will continue reading. The sequel Run For Your Life, is on my shelf just waiting to be read. ( )

Fast-paced and action packed. A quick read if you need a Patterson fix. ( )

great page turner! smart and well-written, with plenty of reference to real New York place, which makes reading it as a New Yorker that much more entertaining. ( )

Fast easy read, for a murder mystery

Goed voor een vliegreis, maar daar eindeigt het ook bij. ( )

One of the very few books I've listened to rather than read. Nice new character, glad to know he'll be making another appearance. ( )

As much as I liked the Bennetts and all of their preciousness and would read another book with them in it, the rest of this book felt hollow and cliched to me. I couldn't bring myself to feel connected to or care about any of the hostages except Eugenia, which is just as well since you don't hear a bit about them as individuals after the hostage situation ends. And his wife's sickness and eventual death seemed really contrived to me, like Patterson is trying to make you like Bennett because look! His wife is dying! Poor guy! I think it would have worked better if she was already dead before the story began. ( )

M. Bennett solves the case of the highjacking of celebrities in a church on Xmas in New Your. 115 chapters for about 350 pages! Not much holding this plot together. It all wraps up in the last 20 pages. Some serious flaws in the action. ( )

A former first lady dies, and the rich and powerful from around the globe gather for her funeral in New York City. It is an assembly of epic proportions, but none of them suspect that they too may soon number among the dead. In a shocking turn of events, a ruthless madman hijacks the memorial service and threatens to unleash a bloodbath. With few options and little time, Detective Michael Bennett is the only hope for ending this desperate standoff. This one was better than other Patterson books. ( )

I like these fast easy, get sucked into a story reads for before bed. I liked this one up until the ending. I felt it fell short.

Wende

Rated PG-13 Violence, Adult ThemesAlex Cross is a true American Hero. ( )

Great Book ( )

You've got to love that you can breeze through a Patterson so quickly. This one is riveting and up until the end I didn't even suspect a thing. Looking back I didn't make those obvious connections because they weren't there to make, so I'm glad I'm not losing it :) The major disappointment was that the back story with Bennett's wife was absolutely unbelieveable. In reality I don't believe anyone, much less an NYPD detective, would have handled the situation in that manner.

I made a mental note to check as I read this one as I had read several reviews that complained that Patterson's recent works were full of "product placements". In this instance I wouldn't call it "placement". I saw his name brands as descriptive, nothing more, and it certainly wasn't excessive. ( )

Surprisingly enjoyable with kind of a chillingly plot, I'd read more books with Michael Bennett as the main character. ( )

Typical James Patterson book. I read this while traveling and it helped pass the time and kept my interest! ( )

This one is a page turner, like Mr Patterson has used us. But as my friend Virgulina said in another review, Patterson now almost always writes with another person, and we don't know who wrote what.
I think Mike Bennett will return, and I liked him :) 10 kids, yikes! :oP ( )

Publishers Weekly
Pop a bowl of popcorn, settle into a comfy chair and you might finish this combination thriller and tearjerker before the popcorn. Bestseller Patterson (Cross) and Ledwidge (The Narrowback) spin a fantastic tale of an audacious mass kidnapping and the unlikely detective thrust into the primary role of negotiator, sleuth and hero. Michael Bennett, a senior NYPD homicide detective, has a wife dying of cancer and 10 adopted children of various ethnic origins. When St. Patrick's Cathedral, site of the celebrity-packed funeral of a former first lady, is seized by a dozen ruthless men, Bennett ends up as point man for the hastily assembled negotiating team. From then on, the tale requires the reader to go with the flow as Bennett alternates visits to his wife's hospital bedside, brief trips to check on how his kids are managing and tense dealings with the well-prepared kidnappers. Short on credibility on the crime front, long on sentimentality on the home front, this book would be a good candidate for adaptation as a one-hour TV movie. ( )

Important people are held hostage in a NYC church. Several are murdered. A policeman group is responsible.

A fast, exciting read, not too gory
June 2007 ( )