Cross
by James Patterson
Published by Little Brown
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Reviewed by Jeff Foster
James Patterson's latest sends us along on a journey with one of his best protagonists, FBI agent Alex Cross.
In Cross, we find Alex more or less stuck in a time-warp as he relives the unsolved murder of his wife Maria, ten years earlier, and the anguish that he still holds regarding her death.
Alex is still with the FBI, but life isn't good. His grandmother, Nana Mama is still tending to his three children while putting the full-court press on him to spend more time with them. They are getting older, his work shifts away from the home are getting longer, and he is missing the best days of their lives. The youngest, Alex needs him more than ever.
It takes a monumental event for Alex to see the light, in this case a robbery-hostage situation that almost ends his life. In the end, it's just too much pressure on a single dad. He makes the hard decision to hang it up and return to his private practice as a psychologist.
Patterson works parallel stories with wonder. Michael Sullivan is a mob hit man known in underworld circles as "The Butcher." As with Big bad Wolf, Patterson creates yet another sadistic serial killer that is so very bad, that you will fall into the "just one more chapter" syndrome before you realize you've been reading for hours.
Cross is tapped by his old partner, John Sampson, for some freelance consulting on serial rape cases that are plaguing Georgetown. None of the victims will say anything about their attacker, when Cross and Sampson finally get one to speak with one, she take great pains not to divulge important information.
After many dead ends, a lost fact from a case Cross had worked with Sampson years earlier matches with his wife's murder. Cross tenaciously pursues the new lead to...
Books by James Patterson are like an annuity, you always know what you're going to get and it just keeps coming.
Armchair Interviews says: Another great one from James Patterson. Hold onto your seat!