I, Alex Cross
by James Patterson
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Book Reviews of I, Alex Cross
Book Review: Excellent
Summary: 4 Stars
I am a huge, huge Alex Cross/James Patterson fan! and I was thrilled beyond belief to read this newest "Alex Cross" book.
The story opens with Alex celebrating a birthday at home with his family and girlfriend Bree (this is something I never quite understood - the need for the author go ALWAYS give Cross a girlfriend). Unfortunately, Alex gets "one of those calls" during his party and finds out that his niece (daughter of a brother he had not be close to in adulthood) has been found dead. When Alex arrives at the scene, he is told that they only have "remains", that his niece was actually killed and then put through a grinder of sorts - Alex is stunned and vows to find the killer.
As it turns out, Alex's niece was a high price call girl who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time - meeting the wrong person. We discover that Alex's niece worked for a high end and exclusive brothel, located in an out of the way location and managed by a man without a conscience.
In the midst of all this, Alex's beloved Nana falls very ill and must be rushed to the hospital. Alex now finds himself torn between being at his Nana's side AND finding his niece's killer.
Alex will spend much of the storyline playing catch up. It seems that although he does have some leads, the killer is always one step ahead, somehow untouchable and as the storyline develops we will soon find out why this killer is so protected.
This book is good and the suspense is pretty consistent. I like that Alex does not miraculously get all the answers quickly in this one and I like that he is highly conflicted for the most part. This is well written - using Patterson's usual quick and easy chapters. Alex is well written and for fans of Alex Cross, this one makes me feel as though I understand him just a little bit more than the last book.
What does not work for me is the emphasis on Nana in all of the books, but particularly this one. I mean, Alex seems surprised when Nana gets ill and may die - all I can say is "Alex, she is 90!!!! maybe its time you came to realize that she will not live forever". I find that Alex's constant protecting and worrying about Nana is getting a little old. I can truly understand the importance she has for him, but this book is 50% about her and frankly, it got a little boring after a while. I keep trying to figure out why Patterson feels the need to always give Cross a crutch (he calls it family support, but it does not feel that way to me). Between his Nana and his round of girlfriends, Alex does not seem to be able to rely on himself for anything!
Still, this book is about the main storyline of mayhew and murder and, as always, Patterson does a great job! I have to say that the "discovering of the murderer" was a tad of a letdown - after building up the story - Patterson just kind of announces who the murderer is (I never suspected until the very end) and that's it. There is no huge confrontations between Cross and the murderer and it felt a little flat.
I still love Patterson and Alex Cross and this book is well written and is a thrilling read. I am still not sure why Patterson chose to call this one I, Alex Cross, but who cares? Its an Alex Cross book and I am thankful.
Book Review: Terse Prose, Emotional Characters and Graphic Violence
Summary: 5 Stars
On the cover of I, ALEX CROSS, there is a small but effective blurb that states: "A beloved Cross family member has been murdered." Such a statement is more than enough to bring in faithful readers of Patterson's most popular character. When you open the book, you get more than you bargained for as you're smacked from across the top of the flyleaf with this line: "THE BEST --- AND SCARIEST --- Alex Cross novel since ALONG CAME A SPIDER." If you were a fan of Alex Cross at one time and jumped off the train at some point in the past, I, ALEX CROSS is the station where you can get back on for a great ride.
The novel kicks off --- following an enigmatic prologue --- with Cross in the middle of a birthday party that is interrupted by a telephone call. The news it relays brings the festivities to an abrupt end; the remains of a human body discovered that evening have been identified as belonging to a member of the Cross family. Cross sets everything aside to investigate the murder and quickly discovers that this family member had been living a secret life, one that involves employment in a very exclusive and expensive club operating under the innocuous name of "Blacksmith Farms." There, the very rich and famous of Washington, D.C.'s elite come to have any and all their needs and desires satisfied.
Sometimes, those needs and desires for the club's valued members can include murder, with Cross's relative this time being the unfortunate victim. Soon it appears that he was not the only employee of the club who has been murdered. Cross, accompanied by police detective and love of his life Brianna Stone, finds that the investigation is leading them to the front doors of the Washington elite. Even worse, the proprietor of Blacksmith Farms has been engaging in a very lucrative --- and dangerous --- game of blackmail with the club's patrons.
Cross is definitely on to something, yet there are almost invisible barriers that continue popping up and hamstringing his investigation. Meanwhile, disappearances and murders keep occurring in and around Washington, D.C. Rather than satisfy an unknown fiend's bloodlust, however, these new killings are being committed to conceal his identity. Cross is in the middle of his dogged investigation when the unthinkable happens: another of his family members suddenly becomes seriously ill. Determined not to lose another relative, Cross finds himself being pulled in two directions, even as the power elite close ranks around a certain key political figure who is pulling all the strings.
Patterson has demonstrated time and time again that he is capable of just about anything, and here he cements his reputation. Big changes are about to occur in Cross's life, and, if the last few paragraphs are any indication, not all of them will be pleasant ones. That having been said, I, ALEX CROSS contains all of Patterson's trademark storytelling elements --- terse prose, emotional characters and graphic violence --- with some truly surprising events that will make this volume an especially popular winner with Patterson fans both new and established.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
Book Review: A terrifying page turner
Summary: 5 Stars
I told a friend who works at a used book store in Houston that I had the new James Patterson novel to review, she asked, "The King Tut one?" I said no, it was the new one. "Oh, that Max series book?" was her response. "No, the new Alex Cross novel," I told her. Her response was, "You mean the one about the trial?" "No," I said to her, "the one after that." She laughed and said, "James Patterson, the bane of used booksellers!"
To understand what she means one only needs to walk into a used bookstore or ask a seller to point you in the direction of the James Patterson sections. Depending on what website you look at, he has had between 55 and 68 novels, graphic novels, and non-fiction books published since his 1976 award winning novel, "The Thomas Berryman Number." It's estimated that one of every fifteen hardback novels sold is penned by James Patterson. Two of his Alex Cross novels (1997's "Kiss the Girls" and 2001's "Along Came a Spider") have been made into films starring Morgan Freeman. There was also a series based on his Women's Murder Club collection of books aired on ABC between 2007 and 2008.
"I, Alex Cross" is a very, very nervous novel that will make your skin crawl. Detective Alex Cross is not only up against a ruthless killer whose perverted sexual gratification ends in death, he is up against those who protect the killer and dispose of the bodies. Alex must track down this twisted fiend who has friends in high places, a killer who has killed a member of Alex's family and calls himself Zeus. As Detective Cross begins to get closer to the truth and the case begins to come together, he must also cope with the reality that one of his own is slowly slipping away.
Not since 2003's "Big Bad Wolf" has an Alex Cross novel really gotten under my skin. And, not since Bret Easton Ellis's megalomaniac killer Patrick Bateman in 1991's "American Psycho," has a serial killer seemed as twisted and plausible as James Patterson's Zeus. By the time I got to the last page, I felt like I had been through hell and back and every second of it was a fantastic, albeit creepy, ride.
The audiobook offers a hands free way to enjoy the novel. Read by Tim Cain and Tony Award Winning actor Michael Cerveris, it comes complete with music, sound effects and creative characterizations. Personally, Alex Cross will always be Morgan Freeman (because of the two films and a voice as recognizable as James Earl Jones.) Still, the audiobook is entertaining and is a convenient way to get your Patterson fix while on the go or while otherwise engaged.
Chilling and provocative, James Patterson has done it again. He has created yet another antihero to add to his ever expanding body of work. At the rate he's going, Patterson is well on his way to becoming one of the most prolific American writers of the past 30 years. "I, Alex Cross" will keep the fans happy and make Patterson a few new ones in the process.
Book Review: Wow, the arrogance of Patterson...
Summary: 1 Stars
I have enjoyed James Patterson's books, albeit, not many of his "co-authored" boks, and the series I am most familiar with are the Alex Cross novels. I was all set to buy this one, but just happened to click on the video interview embedded in this page and was stunned to hear Mr. Patterson not only criticise Tony Hillerman, but absolutely trash his crafting of the Navajo series of books. What an arrogant and dishonorable insult to a man who has passed away, & can't defend himself if he wished. (Which he wouldn't and doesn't need to.) But for Mr. Patterson to trash a man who has won more literary awards for his writings than Patterson ever will, and then to end his interview by saying he'll continue to write Alex Cross books because his son needs new shoes evry year - really? First he totally insults Mr. Hillerman, and then he disses his readers? WOW! Not me, buddy. Won't buy or even borrow a James Patterson book again. When I need to read a book by an arrogant twit, I'll read something by Glenn Beck or Bill O'Reilly.
James Patterson's awards:
I really searched dilligently, all over the internet. I read every link & scoured each link thoroughly. Aside from being a New York Times bestselling novelist, which Hillerman was & nore often than Patterson, there are no awards listed for Patterson's writings, either on his website, or his publishers website.
Tony Hillerman's awards:
He had received every major honor for mystery fiction; awards ranging from the Navajo Tribal Council's commendation to France's esteemed Grand prix de litterature policiere. Western Writers of America honored him with the Wister Award for Lifetime achievement in 2008. He served as president of the prestigious Mystery Writers of America, and was honored with that group's Edgar Award and as one of mystery fiction's Grand Masters. In 2001, his memoir, Seldom Disappointed, won both the Anthony and Agatha Awards for best nonfiction.
2002 Malice Domestic Lifetime Achievement Award
1998 Jack D. Rittenhouse Award of the Rocky Mountain Book Publishers Association. Press release.
1997 Oklahoma Hall of Fame Inductee
1991 Arrell Gibson Lifetime Award of the Oklahoma Center for the Book
1990 National Media Award of the American Anthropological Association
1990 Public Services Award of the Department of the Interior
1989 Mystery Writers of America Grandmaster Award
1987 Special Friends of the Dinee Award by the Navajo Nation
1986 Western Writers of America Spur Award for Skinwalkers
1979 Guest of Honor at BoucherCon Mystery Convention
1974 Edgar Award for Dance Hall of the Dead
James Patterson's awards:
None.
Book Review: RICK "SHAQ" GOLDSTEIN SAYS: "A TRAIL OF SEXUAL PERVERSION AND MURDER LEAD TO THE WHITE HOUSE!"
Summary: 4 Stars
If you're a James Patterson fan... a former James Patterson fan... or hovering somewhere in the middle... due to the overall decline of his work the last few years like me... this book is a step in the right direction. It is definitely an improvement over the recent... machine-gun-like conveyor belt of book releases that have been spewing out with no great concern regarding quality. While "I ALEX CROSS" is not great... it is a good quick read that will not have your eyes rolling uncontrollably skyward at an uncontrollable pace as has been the case in the recent past. It is of course not "eye-rolling" free... but it's a start.
Family man Alex Cross... predictably has a perfect love interest in Bree and a hoard of kids that all provide at least one loving ingredient that completes a *NORMAN ROCKWELL FAMILY PICTURE*. And most assuredly... as sure as night follows day... there is the folksy... all knowing... all loving... Nana. Nana is stricken with heart... kidney... and other assorted ailments that are not too uncommon for a woman "over" ninety-years-old and is taken via ambulance to the hospital. I feel way too much time is spent with her life and death medical condition especially once Alex is immersed in a case that starts out with his very own niece Caroline not only being murdered... but having been chopped and ground up into pulp by a *WOOD-CHIPPER*! It turns out that "SWEET-CAROLINE" had a secret life as a sexual escort... a fancy term for a high paid hooker complete with a house full of "restraints, insertive objects, toys and contraptions". Alex is so shook up and bewildered he doesn't know which nauseates him more... the unveiling of Caroline's deviant life style... or the fact that she is now no more than saw dust.
His investigation leads him to the swankiest of swanky private sex club's in Virginia where the richest and most famous men... AND... women pay inordinate amounts of money to do things that the good lord never intended to be done. Cross's investigation uncovers more dead bodies and individuals ranging from Senator's to United Nations representatives to pro football players... and a masked perverted murderer known as "Zeus". And of course what decent sex club wouldn't have hidden cameras and tapes worthy of high priced blackmail? Alex is shocked and appalled as he is not given the kind of support he would expect from the FBI and other agencies including the Secret Service and the White House itself. Cross is warned off this case on numerous occasions... but as indubitably as he will stay by Nana's bedside in the hospital each night... he will just as doggedly hound the bad guys in his quest for justice.