Pop Goes the Weasel
by James Patterson
Published by Hachette Audio
Click on book
cover to order
at Amazon.com
Review by Kathy Perschmann
(5-CD set)
Patterson's 1999 bestselling thriller is successfully adapted to an abridged audio version here with readings by Keith David and Roger Rees.
Psychotic killer Geoffrey Shafer is a British diplomat working in Washington, D.C. by day, and killing strangers in a role-playing game in disguise, driving a gypsy taxi by night.
Shafer is "Death" and colleagues in the British secret service are the other players--one in London, one in Jamaica, and one in the Far East. His killings are random and varied, and only psychologist/ cop Dr. Alex Cross sees the pattern. Police department politics, primarily the fact the Chief Pittman does not like him and his success rate, keep his views sidelined, and he and his partner Sampson and several other cops are investigating the possibility of one killer for all the murders--who they name "the weasel.
Shafer is disturbingly sinister; the killings are gruesomely repugnant, and the pace is non-stop. The weasel is caught, and the trial for killing of a police detective is a major part of the story; the last part is the unraveling of Shafer's comfortable diplomatic life.
Everything Cross holds dear is in danger: his fiancee is kidnapped, his children are threatened, and his job is one the line.
The readers, David & Rees, are adept at creating Patterson's world in this audio CD.
Armchair Interviews says: Be aware this is quite "creepy"--if that's not your taste.
(Amazon link is to book, not audio)