‘Those Who Are Going to Die’ is the tenth part of the series starring Alex Cross, written by the American thriller writer James Patterson. In “Those Who Are Gonna Die,” Alex Cross faces two of his greatest enemies, the Weasel and the Wolf. Both have come together to realize a violent plan that shakes the world to its foundations. Alex and his FBI colleagues must now make sure they get the two before it’s too late. It will be a race against time that they will not soon forget.
- data
- Summary
- Main characters
- Symbols and motifs
- Title statement and book cover
- Structure and perspective / way of telling
- Theme
- Time and place
- Evaluation
data
- Original title: London Bridges
- Title: Those who are going to die
- Author: James Patterson
- Series: Alex Cross (10)
- First print: 2004
- First edition translated into Dutch: 2006
- Translation: Riek Borgers-Hoving
- Number of pages: 311
- ISBN: 90 229 8976 3
Summary
Until now, no one had discovered that Colonel Geoffrey Shafer had started a new life in Brazil, where he had already made many victims as the psychopathic Weasel. He feels safe until he is kidnapped by a group of men led by the Wolf. The Wolf can use the Weasel in his grand scheme. He wants to wipe an American city off the map as a test.
De Wolf contacts Thomas Weir, the head of the CIA, Ron Burns, the director of the FBI, and Stephen Bowen, the head of Homeland Security. He admits that he is behind the Nevada bombing and has struck Europe in the meantime and has no intention of stopping. When the Wolf announces his next targets, it’s all hands on deck, as he’s now targeting world cities.
Neither the American President, the British Prime Minister nor the German Chancellor want to make a deal with the terrorists. Soon one of the directors is murdered to show the others that the Wolf is serious. They didn’t follow the rules, so he taught them a lesson.
Alex Cross and his partner Monnie Donnelly are tasked with gathering as much information as possible about the Weasel and the mercenaries who carried out the attacks. What prompted the Wolf to make so many victims? And why does the Wolf want to cooperate with the Weasel? To keep Alex under control or is there some other reason? Alex feels like the Wolf is testing them and what frustrates him the most is the lack of logic.
The Weasel has another plan of his own, to get rid of his worst enemy, Alex Cross. Despite the possible consequences, Alex does everything he can to get the Wolf and the Weasel.
Main characters
Alex Cross
Alex Cross is a forensic psychologist who works for the FBI, before that he had a job as a homicide detective with the Washington Police Department.
Alex lives with his children, Jannie and Damon, and Nana, his grandmother, in Washington. Alex Jr., his youngest son, lives with Christine, Alex Jr.’s mother and Alex’s ex-girlfriend, in Seattle. He has been in a relationship for some time with Jamilla Hughes, who is an inspector in the San Francisco Homicide Department. Both have never thought of moving because of their job and the city where they live.
Geoffrey Shafer / De Wezel
The Weasel is a strange man and enjoys watching people suffer. His first appearance was in the book ‘Who laughs last’ from the series with Alex Cross. Then he pretended to be a taxi driver; who gave his victims their last ride. Eventually he fled to London. He is the reason Christine disappeared from Alex’s life.
The wolf
He is a former KGB agent and ruthless killer who has already been in contact with Alex Cross in the book The Hour of the Wolf. He is the man who is used to everyone dancing to his liking. In the meantime, he has studied terrorist tactics and has established his own criminal network. Hardly anyone knows the true identity of De Wolf and he consciously takes care of it.
Monnie Donnelly
She is a single mother who already works as an analyst with the FBI in Quantico. She has previously helped Alex in a case with De Wolf as a suspect. Monnie is convinced that facts lead to truth.
Symbols and motifs
Divorce
Alex sometimes struggles to separate his private life from his job, as he misses a lot from his family and his plans to make up for it are often thwarted by his duties within the FBI.
Secrets
John Sampson and Alex have been best friends since childhood. They have also been partners in the Washington Police Department for years. Alex and John have no secrets from each other. But his job with the FBI forces Alex to keep quiet about some things. And he has a hard time with that. So he tells it anyway, counting on John’s discretion.
Frustration
Things are moving in all directions, but certainly not for the better. Alex has a hard time with the fact that the Wolf is always one step ahead of them and he can do nothing more than watch.
Title statement and book cover
The cover shows the Westminster bridge in London, this is a direct reference to one of the bridges that is detonated in the book. The title is a reference to all the victims the Wolf wants to make in order to fight his personal feud.
Structure and perspective / way of telling
The book is dedicated to Larry Kirshbaum. The story consists of 124 chapters, which are divided into a prologue entitled ‘De Wezel returns, a pleasant surprise’ and five parts, each with a separate title: Part 1 – The unthinkable, Part 2 – False tracks, Part 3 – Wolf Tracks, Part 4 – Paris, the scene of the crime and Part 5 – Deliver us from evil. The chapters are written in third person, giving the views of Colonel Geoffrey Shafer (The Weasel), Frances Puslowkski, the Wolf, the President of the United States, Nikki Williams, Bill Capistran and Henry Seymous. The chapters recounting Alex Cross’s position are written in person.
Theme
Nothing tastes sweeter than revenge.
Time and place
The story is set in the present in several places: Salvador (Brazil), Sunrise Valley (Nevada), San Francisco, Los Angeles, Fallon (Nevada), Washington DC, Middle East, New York, London, Long Island, Paris , Lexington (Virginia), Hailey, Seattle, Nice, Cap-Ferrat and Shepton Mallet,
Evaluation
James Patterson has given this story an extra dimension by returning two of Alex Cross’s enemies, adding an extra layer of suspense to the story. Because you are with two characters who have already appeared in previous books, it is highly recommended to read both books (Who laughs last and The Hour of the Wolf) first, so that you can understand the history between Alex Cross and the two men. understands.