Characters and Plot
Step on a Crack is about an NYPD officer with ten children (all adopted) and whose wife is in the hospital for various health reasons. This officer's name is Michael Bennett. After the death of one of the other characters, whom I will not disclose the identity to, a funeral is held in one of the most famous cathedrals in New York. Several thousand people show up to this funeral, including some really big-name celebrities. However, during the funeral, the cathedral and everyone inside are taken hostage by hooded figures who look like monks and use military grade, non-lethal weapons to control the crowd. Soon after, Michael Bennett is called to the scene to help out and act as a hostage negotiator, while the NYPD, the FBI, and the military essentially shut down and close off the surrounding area. The leader of the hijackers, called Jack, is incredibly calm and confident when he talks to Bennett, and acts as if there is no way for his plan to fail. He (Jack) and his crew let all of the no-name, small fish go, leaving thirty-four of the richest A-list guests, and demand eighty million dollars. After several failed rescue attempts, both by those on the outside and the hostages on the inside, the money finally got wired into a seemingly untraceable account. Following that, the hijackersgot into several unmarked sedans with the hostages and raced around the streets of New York. They were followed for some time until they eventually disappeared in a series of events that, again, I will just leave you to read. It was the crime of the century, until more than a week later, Bennett discovers a clue that eventually leads him to...
To to find out what happens next, read the book Step on a Crack by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge.
To to find out what happens next, read the book Step on a Crack by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge.
Themes & Symbols
,One of the major themes of Step on a Crack is, as cliché as it sounds, "Never Give Up." Over and over again throughout the book, Michael Bennett is metaphorically knocked down and discouraged and beaten by Jack. No matter what Bennett does, Jack always seems to be one, two, even four steps ahead of him. For example , the narrator (Bennett) said, "I felt the negotiations were over — they'd won" (277). This is just one instance of several where he felt like he was beaten and that he should just give up. When his wife died, he said, "I felt as though somewhere deep inside me something shattered and a hole opened" (333). Both of these examples show that he wanted to throw in the towel, that he felt defeated and couldn't go on any longer. He could have very easily just quit everything and not gone back to work and just give up, but he didn't. He got back up, time after time, and kept going, he did what he needed to do help those who desperately needed it in the cathedral, and it paid off.
This is a lesson that is extremely applicable to everyone. Everybody, at some point in their lives, has been or will be knocked down; they may even feel like they can't or shouldn't get back up. When this happened, they're faced with two choices: stay down and cut your losses, or get back up and keep fighting. When they choose to stay down, the evil, sadness, and anger win; however, when they get back up, they are victorious over all the evil and the sadness and the anger. Muhammad Ali, one of, if not the, greatest boxers of all time once put it like this, "Inside the ring or out, ain't nothing wrong with going down. It's staying down that's wrong" (goodreads.com).
This is a lesson that is extremely applicable to everyone. Everybody, at some point in their lives, has been or will be knocked down; they may even feel like they can't or shouldn't get back up. When this happened, they're faced with two choices: stay down and cut your losses, or get back up and keep fighting. When they choose to stay down, the evil, sadness, and anger win; however, when they get back up, they are victorious over all the evil and the sadness and the anger. Muhammad Ali, one of, if not the, greatest boxers of all time once put it like this, "Inside the ring or out, ain't nothing wrong with going down. It's staying down that's wrong" (goodreads.com).