Worst Case

What happens when a powerful chain-smoking lawyer gets terminal cancer with six months to live? Well, In James Patterson’s world he returns to his radical activist roots and begins kidnapping rich youngsters and killing them for being morally inadequate.

Enter Inspector Michael Bennet who, together with FBI kidnapping expert Emily Parker, is determine to stop the lunatic before more children die. Naturally, agent Emily is soon taken with Mike, his ten adopted children and his grandfather the Catholic priest.

And if you find that unlikely, let me not get into the Ash Wednesday climax at the New York stock exchange… It’s typical Patterson. Enough said.

Francis X. Mooney is a "do-gooder" lawyer who believes in changing the world--rescuing people from poverty, donating to humanitarian causes, and increasing social equality. In the beginning, he tries handing out pamphlets about making the world a better place--but no one listens. And so, he decides on a much deadlier path--becoming a serial killer. But his victims are no ordinary folks.

Mixed throughout are giggling and light hearted fun. Zaniness coexists with mayhem. It's more than a little cartoon like, and remarkably like a Scooby-Doo episode; but, alas, there's no Scooby. I looked. It's a quick read, for the 356 pages have large font, plenty of white space, and there's the classic James Patterson (writing with Michael Ledwidge) show more style: mini-chapters of two-four slam-bang pages. The ending is clever and exciting. show less

The action never stops in this explosive thriller, the third in the Michael Bennett series.
Francis X. Mooney is kidnapping and murdering young adults. These kids fit a specific profile—they have no siblings, are highly educated, and have high-profile, wealthy parents. But Francis doesn't want money, so what does this nut job want? In his younger days, Mr. Mooney was an activist for racial and ethnic inequality. If the kids can answer his questions about today's economic issues, he will let them go. If not, they get a bullet to their head. It seems he wants the sons to pay for the father's sins.

As soon as the first kid goes missing, Detective Michael Bennett, now the head of the NYPD Major Cases department, is on the job. He is paired show more up with FBI Chief Carol Fleming. Together, they go after this highly motivated killer who has an affection for explosives. This book spotlights Michael's love life or lack thereof. I found the story engaging and entertaining. show less

Very predictable, especially in light of the plot twists of Patterson's last Bennett outing, which also revolved around a villain trying to get New York's rich to recognize the errors of their ways. The writing and careless editing don't help -- a typical error is when Patterson refers in passing to the collapse of Bear Stearns, Goldman and Merrill Lynch. (Goldman Sachs is back to earning record profits; I suspect he meant to say Lehman Brothers.) That kind of rushed approach always takes a toll on Patterson's prose; this time the pressure to cross the finish line and wrap up the book also takes a toll on the plot, which is the reason to read any of his works. It's not that imaginative and, worst of all, he's got a villain whom many show more folks these days may find themselves empathizing with... The suspense was high enough to keep me reading, but this is a book I'll be glad to get off my shelves at the end of the day. show less

James Patterson's Alex Cross series used to be my favourite. But I think I'm going to say it's now the Mike Bennett series. The last couple of Alex Cross books have been overly violent in my opinion, going for the shock and awe component.

I find the Bennett series entertaining without being offensive.

Children of wealthy New Yorkers are being kidnapped. There is no ransom though - instead the kidnapper gives the children a test. Pass - you live. Fail - lights out. How high is their social awareness of the world's plight?

The 'villain' of the last Bennett book was the Teacher - obsessed with social niceties and politeness. This time around it's social injustices and the state of the world.

I listened to Worst Case in audio format - as I will show more for all future Bennett books. The character of Mike is read by Bobby Canavale. I can't imagine a more perfect narrator - his voice is all New York, it's quick, rough and expressive. The 6 disc set also features two other readers - Orlagh Cassidy as the female Fibbie who's on the case with Mike and John Glover as the bad guy. Glover was particularly effective - his calm, clipped modulated voice made the kidnapper seem even more menacing. Cassidy was a good reader as well, but I just never warmed up to her character - I'm rooting for M.C. - the Bennett nanny.

True to form, Worst Case is short, snappy chapters, ending with cliffhangers, persuading you to listen to just one more chapter. The plot isn't overly complicated and there's a fun secondary plot involving Mike's love life. A thoroughly entertaining listen show less

Worst Case is the 3rd novel in the Michael Bennett series and whilst the first 2 were good, I really feel like the series is getting into it's stride now that the character and his family/work background & ethic have been fully backgrounded.

This time around there's a unhinged kidnapper grabbing children of the wealthy off the streets and questioning them, when they fail his questions he executes them before telling police how to pick them up, only for the police to rush to the location to find a body, rather than the living child.

In addition to the investigation, a FBI agent is assigned to help Bennett/the NYPD with the case, an attractive FBI agent no less, which brings some tension into Bennett's life as he bonds with both his show more children's nanny Mary Catherine, as well as the fetching FBI agent.

A hard one to put down, looking forward to see where the series heads next (and where things go, if anywhere with the nanny!). show less

Worst Case is Patterson's strongest novel in his Michael Bennett series so far. From the the first chapter the action is relentless, only punctuated by the story of Michael's potential love interest. The approach to the latter is cleverly composed, almost a humourous tilt, and it in no way impedes the main story which follows a prolific kidnapper as he terrorizes the city. Great characters and a compelling villain wrap up Worst Case as an example of Patterson at his best.