 2008-11-17 - Not Your Typical Alex Cross Story
After a family is brutally murdered in DC, Alex Cross discovers that one of the victims is someone special from his past. Soon more families suffer the same fate and all of the evidence points to a ruthless gang of teens led by a madman, the likes of which Alex Cross has never encountered. His search for justice will lead him on a deadly trip to Africa and the volatile climate of death and war that surrounds it. Alex Cross has more than met his match as he tries to stop a dangerous killer and the corrupt government that protects him.
Cross Country is quite a departure from the typical Alex Cross formula, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. While many of the previous novels in this series focus primarily on the battle between Alex Cross and the killer, this time around most of the story focuses on Alex's experiences in the dangerous underworld of Africa. Patterson gives us shocking and disturbing imagery with a sobering peek into a nation where the innocent are besieged by a corrupt society. Many of these scenes don't necessarily have the feel of a typical Alex Cross plot, but they do make for an intriguing story.
Never fear. There are plenty of classic Alex Cross moments as he goes to head to head with one of Patterson's most disturbing antagonists. As always, the pacing is swift and perfectly timed making this a quick, but fulfilling read. After thirteen Alex Cross novels I was pleased to discover that Cross Country holds it's own as a nice continuation of the series. In the end, we are of course left with promises of another Cross adventure to look forward to.
I still contend that this series is James Patterson's best written work and I am very interested to see where he goes with it next. I do long for more of the classic Alex Cross I fell in love with and this ending certainly leaves the door open for that. Only time will tell what the future holds for Mr. Patterson and his dear friend Mr. Cross.
2008-11-17 - Every chapter a cliff hanger
James Patterson's new novel, Cross Country, along with several of Clive Cussler's latest novels are prime examples of the thriller genre which I like to call 'every chapter a cliffhanger'. This is another in the series featuring Detective Alex Cross and his crime fighting partner and girlfriend, Brianna Stone.
To my tastes, Patterson has better characters. fewer stereotypes and deeper plots than Cussler, while still adhering to the basic formula that you can lay the book down after your train commute or at he beach and pick it up later and easily slam a few more chapters without loosing ground on an overly complex plot, such as you'd find in Ian Rankin or Ken Follette.
That being said, Patterson keeps things chugging along nicely by hopping midway thru the novel into several chaotic African country, where life is cheap and hero's detective Alex Cross' continued existence is rapidly heading to the red light discount bin. Patterson makes you despair at the turmoil and corruption that is embedded in some problem countries in Africal. I actually lost count of how many times he got beat up and betrayed by hopped up teenage killers, evil cops and rogue CIA operatives... as mentioned before, a cliffhanger per chapter.
If you like fast plotted, punchy writing with better than average character depth and a solidly plotted thriller then this Fall offering may make it into your holiday reading plans.
2008-11-17 - Another Patterson winner
I have been a James Patterson - and more specifically Alex Cross fan from day one. As soon as I finish one Alex Cross and close the book, I am already looking forward (and sighing) to the next one.
Cross Country is a little different from any of the other Alex Cross novels. For one thing, most of the action takes place - you guessed it! Across the country, more specifically in Africa. I was a little surprised at this storyline - for me - what works so well with the Cross books is the interaction Cross has with the people in his life and, obviously, this would (and is) limited in this book.
Most of the story does take place in Africa and I have to say that if Patterson's idea was to inform the public about the dangers and horrible goings on in Africa, he has succeeded with me. I had no idea that things were that horrid out there. Parts of this book are actually difficult to read because the description of the brutal murders are so graphic and senseless. It makes me so grateful to life in North America where we have our rights as human beings.
I loved this novel, but I have to say that there is so much going on, that I felt as though Alex was kind of lost in the middle of it all. He spends an inordinate amount of time in jails and when not jailed he is being beaten up. It is also a little hard to follow all the players as they travel from one hot spot to another. It just felt to me as though Cross was more of a bit player behind the bigger story - that of the horrible violence in Africa.
Nonetheless, it is impossible NOT to get involved in the book and the story is as thrilling as any I have read involving Alex.
Eventually Alex will get back to the US and will be faced with a very difficult situation upon his return. This is a bit of a twist that I did not expect - and I had hoped that Patterson would take the "hard" way out of this twist, but in the end - he did not - and this was a bit of a disappointment to me as this would have made for some very interesting future books.
I am still not feeling the love between Cross and Bree and I am not sure why Patterson feels the need to ALWAYS make sure Cross has a girlfriend?????
This book is chock full of action and goes a thousand miles a minute - it is also very graphic and difficult to read - but all of this simply added to the mystery that is Alex Cross and made for a thought provoking, roller coaster of a book.
Now (sigh!) I have to wait another year for the next one (again!).
Run to the bookstore and get this one
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