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In this heart-stopping thriller, Detective Alex Cross and his beloved fiancé find themselves tangled in a complex murder investigation, threatening not only public safety, but their chance at happiness together.Alex Cross is happy, but his happiness is threatened by a series of chilling murders—murders with a pattern so twisted, it leaves investigators reeling. Cross's ingenious pursuit of the killer produces a suspect: a British diplomat named Geoffrey Shafer.
But proving that Shafer show more is the murderer becomes a potentially deadly task. As the diplomat engages in a brilliant series of surprising countermoves, in and out of the courtroom, Alex and his fiancée become hopelessly entangled with the most memorable nemesis Alex Cross has ever faced.
Pop Goes the Weasel reveals James Patterson at the peak of his power. Here is a chilling villain no reader will forget, a love story of great tenderness, and a plot of relentless suspense and heart-pounding pace. To read Pop Goes the Weasel is to discover why James Patterson is one of the world's greatest suspense writers.
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Geoffrey Shafer works at the British Embassy in Washington, D.C. and has diplomatic immunity. He also plays a role-playing game with three other men around the world he was in the army with years earlier. His character is Death. Unfortunately, Shafer’s fantasy game is now a reality for him as he acts out murders on real people, mostly people in the poor neighbourhoods where the police tend to not spend too much time or money investigating what happened.
But Alex Cross and a few of his detective friends are working on some of these cases in their spare time. At the same time, he tries to spend time with his family and girlfriend. Unfortunately, when they all head to Bermuda on holiday, things become personal.
I really liked this one. show more Although it got really frustrating with the diplomatic immunity. I don’t understand the why of that… people with diplomatic immunity can just go murder people in other countries and are not able to be punished for it? I just don’t get it! Maybe (in reality) it’s not quite that simple? show less
But Alex Cross and a few of his detective friends are working on some of these cases in their spare time. At the same time, he tries to spend time with his family and girlfriend. Unfortunately, when they all head to Bermuda on holiday, things become personal.
I really liked this one. show more Although it got really frustrating with the diplomatic immunity. I don’t understand the why of that… people with diplomatic immunity can just go murder people in other countries and are not able to be punished for it? I just don’t get it! Maybe (in reality) it’s not quite that simple? show less
I think I found this book more of a slog than the previous three I've read. Maybe it was a bit of post-holiday need for rest, maybe it was the plot, but I found myself falling asleep most of the time I picked it up to read it. I finally got engaged the last 50 or so pages and also found the character of Christine more of a distraction than a necessary part to keep the storyline going.
The psychopath in this book is a Colonel in the British Army who now works at the British Embassy and is possibly responsible for the unsolved murders of streetwalkers over the years. Cross and his buddy Sampson do what they can to trace Shafer to these murders until they are taken off the cases as unimportant enough to solve. Which is a fact that totally show more gets under Cross' skin and he continues to pursue them in his best Cross manner.
All the while we see the disintegration of Shafer with his medicated bi-polar disorder that was activated years ago as a British assassin with MI-6 in Asia. His comrades from this time are all part of an on-line game (circa late 90's) called The Horsemen, and each of them has taken a character as their part. The others seem aghast at how Death, Shafer's character, seems to have a little more reality to his "games" to the point where one of his former compatriots flies to DC to render him a visit.
The action does a lot of fits and starts, never really building to an all-out detective fiction chase, but rather sputtering into dead alleys that then spin off into more dead alleys with simple explanations but little resolution. Still, I'll continue with this series as the descriptions of good detective work and psychopathology are well done. show less
The psychopath in this book is a Colonel in the British Army who now works at the British Embassy and is possibly responsible for the unsolved murders of streetwalkers over the years. Cross and his buddy Sampson do what they can to trace Shafer to these murders until they are taken off the cases as unimportant enough to solve. Which is a fact that totally show more gets under Cross' skin and he continues to pursue them in his best Cross manner.
All the while we see the disintegration of Shafer with his medicated bi-polar disorder that was activated years ago as a British assassin with MI-6 in Asia. His comrades from this time are all part of an on-line game (circa late 90's) called The Horsemen, and each of them has taken a character as their part. The others seem aghast at how Death, Shafer's character, seems to have a little more reality to his "games" to the point where one of his former compatriots flies to DC to render him a visit.
The action does a lot of fits and starts, never really building to an all-out detective fiction chase, but rather sputtering into dead alleys that then spin off into more dead alleys with simple explanations but little resolution. Still, I'll continue with this series as the descriptions of good detective work and psychopathology are well done. show less
Originally on my book blog!
Can I just flail instead of write a review? This was a masterpiece and you should believe me because I don’t use that word often. Everything was fabulous in this book. The characters (that’s nothing new), the plot (also nothing new), the plot twists (go figure), and the ending (SHOCKER, THAT).
No really, this book was like fictional quicksand (as opposed to real quicksand that actually takes a really long time to swallow you up.) This book took a full two minutes, if that, to make me want to read the rest of it in one sitting. I read the back of the book before I started reading it and I saw that they put Shafer’s name on the back and I was like “um??? I know who the killer is so???” but it’s so show more much more than that. I wanted to keep reading to find out WHY he killed them, WHY he was such a creepo, and WHY he picked him victims.
Alex and Christine are ~in love~ and they are perfect together. They have a very grown up relationship and they took their relationship slow. I love them together. I love Christine’s relationship with Jannie and Damon because that’s a healthy relationship. Parents: if you are going to have step kids due to a marriage with previous kids from it, read about this relationship. They are doing it right. There are some books that if they aren’t filled with suspense, they may get boring or tedious, but this series is not like that. When the suspense is not happening, I still greatly enjoy the books because of how well the relationships are written.
This series has shed a lot on how marginalized groups feel about cops and the justice system as a whole. Patterson doesn’t go out and say “the cops don’t care about marginalized groups” because he doesn’t have to.
I know not everyone spends their days reading articles of things like this, but I try to keep up on important things and I see things like this frequently. It may be uncomfortable for other people to read, but I think it’s important for Patterson to put these things in the books, especially when Alex Cross lives in a place where it happens daily.
BUT THE PLOT TWISTS. Okay, if you’re not really into the personal lives of Alex Cross and his family, or the ties to Real Life Issues, you can skim those and still enjoy the book because the plot twists are incredible. I don’t remember the last time I read a book where the plot twists surprised me this much. If you’re a fan of plot twists, you’d be a fan of this book.
The ending was as perfect as a book with several murders and sadness could be. I wasn’t sure how they would end a book like this, but the ending was better than I thought it would be. Probably the best ending of the series so far. As soon as I set the book down, all I wanted to do was go grab the next one and start reading it but I can’t because it’s a 3 hour drive from here.
I totally recommend this book to anyone that doesn’t mind murder and some gruesome scenes.
Have you read any books in this series? If so, did you like them? show less
Can I just flail instead of write a review? This was a masterpiece and you should believe me because I don’t use that word often. Everything was fabulous in this book. The characters (that’s nothing new), the plot (also nothing new), the plot twists (go figure), and the ending (SHOCKER, THAT).
No really, this book was like fictional quicksand (as opposed to real quicksand that actually takes a really long time to swallow you up.) This book took a full two minutes, if that, to make me want to read the rest of it in one sitting. I read the back of the book before I started reading it and I saw that they put Shafer’s name on the back and I was like “um??? I know who the killer is so???” but it’s so show more much more than that. I wanted to keep reading to find out WHY he killed them, WHY he was such a creepo, and WHY he picked him victims.
Alex and Christine are ~in love~ and they are perfect together. They have a very grown up relationship and they took their relationship slow. I love them together. I love Christine’s relationship with Jannie and Damon because that’s a healthy relationship. Parents: if you are going to have step kids due to a marriage with previous kids from it, read about this relationship. They are doing it right. There are some books that if they aren’t filled with suspense, they may get boring or tedious, but this series is not like that. When the suspense is not happening, I still greatly enjoy the books because of how well the relationships are written.
This series has shed a lot on how marginalized groups feel about cops and the justice system as a whole. Patterson doesn’t go out and say “the cops don’t care about marginalized groups” because he doesn’t have to.
“The police won’t do nothin’. You never come back here again after today. Never happen. You don’t care about us. We’re nothin’ to nobody.”
I know not everyone spends their days reading articles of things like this, but I try to keep up on important things and I see things like this frequently. It may be uncomfortable for other people to read, but I think it’s important for Patterson to put these things in the books, especially when Alex Cross lives in a place where it happens daily.
BUT THE PLOT TWISTS. Okay, if you’re not really into the personal lives of Alex Cross and his family, or the ties to Real Life Issues, you can skim those and still enjoy the book because the plot twists are incredible. I don’t remember the last time I read a book where the plot twists surprised me this much. If you’re a fan of plot twists, you’d be a fan of this book.
The ending was as perfect as a book with several murders and sadness could be. I wasn’t sure how they would end a book like this, but the ending was better than I thought it would be. Probably the best ending of the series so far. As soon as I set the book down, all I wanted to do was go grab the next one and start reading it but I can’t because it’s a 3 hour drive from here.
I totally recommend this book to anyone that doesn’t mind murder and some gruesome scenes.
Have you read any books in this series? If so, did you like them? show less
There's not much to say about this book, except that it illustrates all the flaws of reading a book series for me. Series that feature compelling, interesting characters are a joy, giving the reader a chance to spend more time in the company of people they enjoy. Then there's this one ...
This is the fifth (of 18! So far!) Alex Cross mystery/thrillers, featuring a Washington, D.C., police detective/psychologist who catches bad guys by getting into their head. The books are already starting to blur together for me. In every book, Cross contemplates leaving the police force altogether and going back into private practice as a psychologist. In every book, there's some amazingly beautiful and intelligent woman whom he instantly falls in love show more with, and all the reader can think is, "Uh-oh." Because that never turns out well for Alex. He's like a cross between Job and Eeyore, this guy.
Every killer is the worst yet, the most heinous, the most clever and devious, the most dangerous to Cross and his preternaturally perfect children and wise old grandmother. Sometimes the killers get caught at the end of the book, and as a reader I enjoy that closure. Sometimes they don't, and I just know I'm going to have to sit through another book somewhere down the line featuring this same tired storyline without even the juice of new characters to liven it up. And yet I can't stop reading them, so really, who's the fool? show less
This is the fifth (of 18! So far!) Alex Cross mystery/thrillers, featuring a Washington, D.C., police detective/psychologist who catches bad guys by getting into their head. The books are already starting to blur together for me. In every book, Cross contemplates leaving the police force altogether and going back into private practice as a psychologist. In every book, there's some amazingly beautiful and intelligent woman whom he instantly falls in love show more with, and all the reader can think is, "Uh-oh." Because that never turns out well for Alex. He's like a cross between Job and Eeyore, this guy.
Every killer is the worst yet, the most heinous, the most clever and devious, the most dangerous to Cross and his preternaturally perfect children and wise old grandmother. Sometimes the killers get caught at the end of the book, and as a reader I enjoy that closure. Sometimes they don't, and I just know I'm going to have to sit through another book somewhere down the line featuring this same tired storyline without even the juice of new characters to liven it up. And yet I can't stop reading them, so really, who's the fool? show less
I started reading this series during The Great American Read. I was familiar with James Patterson, mostly because his name is splashed all over so many books as author, co-author, or whatever you want to call his publication style, but I had never actually read one of his books. I discovered quickly that I actually like Alex Cross, a Washington D.C. psychologist who becomes a detective. Cross investigates some gritty, hard-hitting cases. The series reads like a television thriller series or an over-the-top movie.....a cop soap opera. Devious serial killers. Crooks who keep popping up in Cross' life to cause damage. Bad cops. Thugs. And every time Cross gets a girlfriend bad things happen. Every. Time.
Despite the plots getting cheesy in show more places, I'm enjoying reading through this series. Pop Goes the Weasel gave me some trouble though, but not because of the plot, characters or writing. I actually had a hard time finding a copy of the book. I'm on a personal book buying ban at the moment (I own way too many physical books -- thousands of them -- so I'm not buying anything I'm only going to read once) so buying this book was not an option. My local library and its various branches do not own a physical copy of this book. So I turned to the digital offerings.....the ebook had a huge waiting list (Drat! People have discovered the joy of the library's digital site! lol). I finally checked out the audio book version only to discover it's abridged. Heavily abridged. The full audio book is almost 10 hours long. The version I listened to is only 5 1/2 hours long, which means they cut out half the story. Rather than wait weeks in a queue for the ebook....I chose to listen to the abridged story. I found it a bit annoying that they chose to leave in a steamy sex scene between Alex and his girlfriend Christine while obviously cutting out a lot of the meat of the story. Sigh. But....at least I can move on with the series now rather than sitting in a queue for a couple months waiting on an ebook.
Pop Goes the Weasel is the 5th book in the Alex Cross series. There are 26 books in the series, with a new book, Criss Cross, coming out in 2019. I have a lot of reading to do to catch up with this series....another reason I didn't want to wait for the library's ebook. This time, Cross is investigating a string of violent murders in D.C. They are calling the killer The Weasel. Just as Cross is narrowing in on a suspect, his girlfriend is kidnapped (Please stop dating, Cross....it never ever ends well!). Turns out this killer will be one of the most gruesome and diabolical criminals that Alex Cross will ever come across. And he's playing a game of life and death with Alex Cross.
I enjoyed this story.....well, I enjoyed the parts of this story I got to hear. This version is just too heavily abridged. The narrators give a great performance....the plot was interesting (despite the girlfriend in danger plot device coming up yet again...sigh) and the investigation filled with action and suspense. I'm going middle of the road with my rating on this one....just because half the story is missing. I'm confused why both libraries I use (my local and a nearby large metro library system) only have an abridged audio version of this book while the rest of the series is available unabridged? Frustrating! Especially when the after effects of this story continue through the rest of the series. Grumble, grumble.
On to the next book in the series -- Roses are Red. show less
Despite the plots getting cheesy in show more places, I'm enjoying reading through this series. Pop Goes the Weasel gave me some trouble though, but not because of the plot, characters or writing. I actually had a hard time finding a copy of the book. I'm on a personal book buying ban at the moment (I own way too many physical books -- thousands of them -- so I'm not buying anything I'm only going to read once) so buying this book was not an option. My local library and its various branches do not own a physical copy of this book. So I turned to the digital offerings.....the ebook had a huge waiting list (Drat! People have discovered the joy of the library's digital site! lol). I finally checked out the audio book version only to discover it's abridged. Heavily abridged. The full audio book is almost 10 hours long. The version I listened to is only 5 1/2 hours long, which means they cut out half the story. Rather than wait weeks in a queue for the ebook....I chose to listen to the abridged story. I found it a bit annoying that they chose to leave in a steamy sex scene between Alex and his girlfriend Christine while obviously cutting out a lot of the meat of the story. Sigh. But....at least I can move on with the series now rather than sitting in a queue for a couple months waiting on an ebook.
Pop Goes the Weasel is the 5th book in the Alex Cross series. There are 26 books in the series, with a new book, Criss Cross, coming out in 2019. I have a lot of reading to do to catch up with this series....another reason I didn't want to wait for the library's ebook. This time, Cross is investigating a string of violent murders in D.C. They are calling the killer The Weasel. Just as Cross is narrowing in on a suspect, his girlfriend is kidnapped (Please stop dating, Cross....it never ever ends well!). Turns out this killer will be one of the most gruesome and diabolical criminals that Alex Cross will ever come across. And he's playing a game of life and death with Alex Cross.
I enjoyed this story.....well, I enjoyed the parts of this story I got to hear. This version is just too heavily abridged. The narrators give a great performance....the plot was interesting (despite the girlfriend in danger plot device coming up yet again...sigh) and the investigation filled with action and suspense. I'm going middle of the road with my rating on this one....just because half the story is missing. I'm confused why both libraries I use (my local and a nearby large metro library system) only have an abridged audio version of this book while the rest of the series is available unabridged? Frustrating! Especially when the after effects of this story continue through the rest of the series. Grumble, grumble.
On to the next book in the series -- Roses are Red. show less
Four stars for this one; meaning if you're into thrillers or James Patterson, you should read this one.
Could this book be a 5 star? Absolutely. If it wasn't by the repetitive themes, twists, and endings that if you have read previous work from James Patterson, they are totally predictable.
Still, it's a really good book and Patterson is a great narrator keeping you excited and on your toes during the entire novel. His books are fast pace thrillers, and you keep turning pages waiting for the resolution even when you can foresee what's going to happen from miles away.
I wish there was more variety to this series, but I'm going to keep on reading it because is fun.
Could this book be a 5 star? Absolutely. If it wasn't by the repetitive themes, twists, and endings that if you have read previous work from James Patterson, they are totally predictable.
Still, it's a really good book and Patterson is a great narrator keeping you excited and on your toes during the entire novel. His books are fast pace thrillers, and you keep turning pages waiting for the resolution even when you can foresee what's going to happen from miles away.
I wish there was more variety to this series, but I'm going to keep on reading it because is fun.
Pop Goes The Weasel is the fifth book in the Alex Cross series and was originally published in 1999. James Patterson has written a fast-paced thriller that is a white-knuckle ride throughout the book all the way to the end. Once again Patterson delivers a page-turner which leaves you wanting even more.
There are more dead young black women in the southeast district of Washington DC. Cross and a number of colleagues are having to run an off the books investigation into the murders as the Police department is unwilling to fund a murder investigation. The Chief of Police wants Cross to only focus on high profile murders and not the irrelevant murder of black children, that are happening in Cross’ own back yard.
With all the internal show more politics going on Cross takes a vacation with his family to Bermuda. His fiancée, Christine Johnson has gone missing. The is a police search and investigation but they keep coming up with nothing. When Cross gets back to Washington, he is a broken man.
Geoffrey Shafer is an upstanding member of the international set in Washington DC, he is an intelligence officer at the British Embassy. Shafer loves playing games and loves winning even more. Shafer is playing a game of life and death which could also include Christine Johnson, he is not afraid of grandstanding even though the world is watching.
It is a race to the end, and Cross is hoping that he is somehow able to find Christine still alive. He has the full support of his family and friends. The one thing that he could do with and has been missing throughout the investigate, luck.
Just another brilliant episode in the Cross series show less
There are more dead young black women in the southeast district of Washington DC. Cross and a number of colleagues are having to run an off the books investigation into the murders as the Police department is unwilling to fund a murder investigation. The Chief of Police wants Cross to only focus on high profile murders and not the irrelevant murder of black children, that are happening in Cross’ own back yard.
With all the internal show more politics going on Cross takes a vacation with his family to Bermuda. His fiancée, Christine Johnson has gone missing. The is a police search and investigation but they keep coming up with nothing. When Cross gets back to Washington, he is a broken man.
Geoffrey Shafer is an upstanding member of the international set in Washington DC, he is an intelligence officer at the British Embassy. Shafer loves playing games and loves winning even more. Shafer is playing a game of life and death which could also include Christine Johnson, he is not afraid of grandstanding even though the world is watching.
It is a race to the end, and Cross is hoping that he is somehow able to find Christine still alive. He has the full support of his family and friends. The one thing that he could do with and has been missing throughout the investigate, luck.
Just another brilliant episode in the Cross series show less
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James Patterson was born in Newburgh, New York, on March 22, 1947. He graduated from Manhattan College in 1969 and received a M. A. from Vanderbilt University in 1970. His first novel, The Thomas Berryman Number, was written while he was working in a mental institution and was rejected by 26 publishers before being published and winning the Edgar show more Award for Best First Mystery. He is best known as the creator of Alex Cross, the police psychologist hero of such novels as Along Came a Spider and Kiss the Girls. Cross has been portrayed on the silver screen by Morgan Freeman. He has had eleven on his books made into movies and ranks as number 3 on the Hollywood Reporter's '25 Most Powerful Authors' 2016 list. He also writes the Women's Murder Club series, the Michael Bennett series, the Maximum Ride series, Daniel X series, the Witch and Wizard series, BookShots series, Private series, NYPD Red series, and the Middle School series for children. He has won numerous awards including the BCA Mystery Guild's Thriller of the Year, the International Thriller of the Year award, and the Reader's Digest Reader's Choice Award. James Patterson introduced the Bookshots Series in 2016 which is advertised as All Thriller No Filler. The first book in the series, Cross Kill, made the New York Times Bestseller list in June 2016. The third and fourth books, The Trial, and Little Black Dress, made the New York Times Bestseller list in July 2016. The next books in the series include, $10,000,000 Marriage Proposal, French Kiss, Hidden: A Mitchum Story (co-authored with James O. Born). and The House Husband (co-authored Duane Swierczynski). Patterson's novel, co-authored with Maxine Paetro, Woman of God, became a New York Times bestseller in 2016. Patterson co-authored with John Connoly and Tim Malloy the true crime expose Filthy Rich about billionaire convicted sex offender Jeffrey Eppstein. In January 2017, he co-authored with Ashwin Sanghi the bestseller Private Delhi. And in August 2017, he co-authored with Richard Dilallo, The Store. The Black Book is a stand-alone thriller, co-authored by James Patterson and David Ellis. In April 2018, he co-authored Texas Ranger with Andrew Bourelle. In May 2018, he co-authored Private Princess with Rees Jones. In August 2018 he co-authored Fifty Fifty with Candice Fox. (Bowker Author Biography) James Patterson is the author of seven major national bestsellers in a row. These include "Along Came a Spider", "Kiss the Girls", "Jack & Jill", "Cat & Mouse", "When the Wind Blows", "Pop Goes the Weasel", &, in paperback, "The Midnight Club". A past winner of the prestigious Edgar Award, Patterson lives in Florida. (Publisher Provided) show less
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Distinctions
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Pop Goes the Weasel
- Original title
- Pop Goes the Weasel
- Original publication date
- 1999-10-19
- People/Characters
- Alex Cross; Geoffrey Shafer; John Sampson; Nana Mama; George Pitman; Christine Johnson (show all 17); Damon Cross; Janelle Cross; Nina Childs; George Bayer; Zachary Taylor; Patsy Hampton; Sandy Greenberg; Oliver Highsmith; Andrew Jones; James Whitehead; Alex Cross Jr.
- Important places
- Washington, D.C., USA; Bermuda; London, England, UK; Jamaica
- Epigraph*
- Het afleveren van een onverbiddelijke bestseller is zijn doel. Wel, daarin is hij geslaagd.
- Dedication
- This is for Suzie and Jack, and for the millions of Alex Cross readers who so frequently ask, Can't you write faster?
- First words
- Geoffrey Shafer, dashingly outfitted in a single-breasted blue blazer, white shirt, striped tie and narrow gray trousers from H. Huntsman and Son, walked out of his town house at seven thirty in the morning and climbed into h... (show all)is black Jaguar XJ12.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Death.
- Blurbers
- King, Larry
- Original language*
- Amerikanisch
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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