In my blog based around the concept of a fictional detective, I cite a number of methods that have been developed over time to portray the fictional investigator. To me the term detective covers a wide array of meanings starting from private investigators to members of the police force. In fact , the lead personality may not be a normal detective at all, as is the case with Jame's Patterson's Alex Cross, who, depending on where you join him in his fictional career, is a combo detective and psychologist.
This article is designed to supply a mini-review of James Patterson, though not in the conventional sense. While it's true I'd like to delve a bit deeper into his works, I'm not particularly interested in reviewing a selected title, or group of titles, but more Mr. Patterson's style.
Most or even all of James Patterson's books are thrillers. Thrillers vary from standard who-done-its in that the opponent, or bad guy if you will, is often known by the reader early on or, at the very least, the reader knows something about him (or her). As a consequence, portions of the story are commonly told through the villian's eyes.
Thrillers are multiple viewpoint books. That is, some of the story is told through the hero's eyes, some is seen through those of the antagonist and some may be told from the viewpoint of some minor characterâ€"perhaps even someone who the bad guy is chasing or is trying to kill.
To me, multiple point of view books are most times more action-packed than an other types of novels. In KISS THE GIRLS for example, Patterson is able to show the reader three separate murder scenes, carried out by the same pathological killer, the hero's frantic dash to surgery to save a dying boy, and Cross's discovery that his niece has been kidnappedâ€"all in under fifty pages.
Like Patterson, it's exactly this face-paced story telling that drew me to this sort of writing when I developed my own novel, ZION'S WEB. ZION'S WEB isn't just a thriller, but, based on the reviews I've received so far, is packed full of actionâ€"due no doubt to the multiple point of view methodology I decided to employ.
This article is designed to supply a mini-review of James Patterson, though not in the conventional sense. While it's true I'd like to delve a bit deeper into his works, I'm not particularly interested in reviewing a selected title, or group of titles, but more Mr. Patterson's style.
Most or even all of James Patterson's books are thrillers. Thrillers vary from standard who-done-its in that the opponent, or bad guy if you will, is often known by the reader early on or, at the very least, the reader knows something about him (or her). As a consequence, portions of the story are commonly told through the villian's eyes.
Thrillers are multiple viewpoint books. That is, some of the story is told through the hero's eyes, some is seen through those of the antagonist and some may be told from the viewpoint of some minor characterâ€"perhaps even someone who the bad guy is chasing or is trying to kill.
To me, multiple point of view books are most times more action-packed than an other types of novels. In KISS THE GIRLS for example, Patterson is able to show the reader three separate murder scenes, carried out by the same pathological killer, the hero's frantic dash to surgery to save a dying boy, and Cross's discovery that his niece has been kidnappedâ€"all in under fifty pages.
Like Patterson, it's exactly this face-paced story telling that drew me to this sort of writing when I developed my own novel, ZION'S WEB. ZION'S WEB isn't just a thriller, but, based on the reviews I've received so far, is packed full of actionâ€"due no doubt to the multiple point of view methodology I decided to employ.
About the Author:
Michael Snow is the author of ZION'S WEB, the first of the Zachariah Burton detective thrillers. As well as writing novels, Michael maintains a blog site which contains a bunch of extremely handy and entertaining blogs, including tips on writing a book.
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