What you need to understand about James Patterson is that his background is in advertising, and he models his work around money and opportunity rather than craft. FPW is a writer and a doctor, not just a doctor who writes like say, Robin Cook. James Patterson is an advertising executive who writes. ..There's a difference.

I read somewhere that prior to writing Along Came a Spider, Patterson conducted research surveys to see what kind of hero would be most appealing, what kind of villain whould be most hated, etc...He modeled Alex Cross and all of his characters out of this data...

Very interesting and it explains a lot! Thanks!

I'm not a huge fan of James Patterson, though I find myself reading all his stuff.

I think I know what you mean. I read on my breaks at work (so I won't eat a bunch of junk out of the vending machine) and go through about a book every week. My wife has most of the Alex Cross novels so I've been going through them lately (I'm up to Pop Goes the Weasel). They all seem to follow the same plot formula, but I'll probably finish them anyway (I'm kind of anal that way).

.. They all seem to follow the same plot formula, but I'll probably finish them anyway (I'm kind of anal that way).

Yup, that's exactly what I do. I start them and then I finish them just because I feel I need to, without particularly loving the experience. And yes, the plots of his stuff are all very similar.

I like James Patterson with the Alex Cross books being my favorites. These new ones. . . . First to Die, Second Chance, etc (hope those titles are correct), haven't held my attention so I've quit reading his stuff so much.
As for the movie, I love Morgan Freeman, but would've preferred Denzel Washington.