Cross Country (Alex Cross)
by James Patterson
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Book Summary Information
Author: James PattersonEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-11-17
ISBN: 0316018724
Number of pages: 416
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Book Reviews of Cross Country (Alex Cross)
Book Review: Jumped the shark? More like nuked the fridge.
Summary: 1 Stars
The Alex Cross series can best be described as a roller coaster ride. Its had its ups(Kiss the Girls, pop goes the weasel) and its had its downs(four blind mice, london bridges) and more recently its has had its steady climb of greatness(mary, mary through double cross) until it hits the top and plummets drastically, which is where cross country would fit in.
The book starts off with cross investigating a brutal murder of a family and upon his investigating (simply by looking at a picture) he finds out that it was his former girl friend (because according to patterson it is impossible for cross not to have one) and decides that no matter what he has to find out who killed her and exact his revenge on the yet again proclaimed "worst villian ever" by the cover because somehow killing a few more people instantly makes the newest villian more evil than the last.
The bulk of the story takes place in Africa which is fine, except for the fact that Patterson has yet riddled another book with his wordly views (the last time being the final warning) by explaining how bad it is to live in certain parts of Africa. In fact, he tells us so much that around every 2 pages it feels like the book says "oh and by the way, much of Africa is plauged by murder, bribery and other various bad things, just thought I would remind you for the hundreth time in case you didnt already know". It is just annoying and tasteless on Pattersons part to do this, if i really wanted to know about the worlds problems than I would attend the G8 summit because I read books for entertainment, not lectures or PSAs.
Another part that ruined the book is the fact that cross is now jack bauer, in the sense that he can (and does frequently) escape impossibly stupid situations without so much as a scratch. I dont care if this is fiction but the way Cross gets out of these situations was just plain stupid, annoying, and beyond realistic on Pattersons part. Ive read scifi and fantasy books that made more sense than these situations and trust me, these arent major spoilers, or spoilers at all for that matter. You cannot be at ground zero of an exploding gas station and be fine. You cannot be held down by 10 people who intend to cut your arm off, only to magically thrown more than half of them off, escape, and manage to get away while injured. You cannot broadside a car in a collision and slam your head against the window going 60+ miles an hour and make it out with only a bloody nose. I could go on but you should get he point by now. Also, there are so many dead bodies in this book that it becomes rediculous and it becomes hard to identify people when by the end of the book theres atleast 6 dead families consisting of atleast 5-7 members each and because of that, the book starts to become predicitable and youll know who the real villians are about 2/3 of the way through the book.
The ending was just terrible as well and its becoming old. For the past 3-4 books now the cross series has ended with kyle craig (who frankly isnt that great of a villian and has been cross nemesis since book 6 by accomplishing nothing) calling up cross, laughing at him and hanging up abruptly with cross telling us hes now more freaked out than before, except this time theres a little twist which makes no sense at all. ASt the end while their arresting the main villians, cross gets in his car and drives home. About half way home kyle calls him up, does his usual banter and tells him "oh and by the way, I was in the house with you." My question is, how can one of the FBIs most wanted men be manage to hide in a house that becomes instantly flooded from all entryways and scanned head to toe by SWAT teams and other FBI agents? Quite frankly, i dont know.
In conclusion, cross country sucks for the various reasons listed above and it saddens me to know that out of the 6 or 7 books to come out by him this year, only one was good. My reccomendation, do not read a single book by him that came out in 2008 except for 7th Heaven because everything else was trash.
Summary of Cross Country (Alex Cross)
When the home of Alex Cross's oldest friend, Ellie Cox, is turned into the worst murder scene Alex has ever seen, the destruction leads him to believe that he's chasing a horrible new breed of killer. As Alex and his girlfriend, Brianna Stone, become entangled in the deadly Nigerian underworld of Washington D.C., what they discover is shocking: a stunningly organized gang of lethal teenagers headed by a powerful, diabolical man--the African warlord known as the Tiger. Just when the detectives think they're closing in on the elusive murderer, the Tiger disappears into thin air. Tracking him to Africa, Alex knows that he must follow. Alone.From the author Time magazine has called "the man who can't miss," CROSS COUNTRY is the most heart-stopping, speed-charged, electrifying Alex Cross thriller yet.
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