(Book)Cross Country - James Patterson

[Ivy]

Summary: Bestseller Patterson's 14th Alex Cross thriller doesn't follow up on the plot threads left dangling in 2007's Double Cross concerning still-on-the-loose serial killer Kyle Craig. Instead, Cross, a Washington, D.C., police detective, takes on a very different quarry—a human monster known as the Tiger with ties to the African underworld. 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. The Tiger, a powerful, diabolical man--an African warlord, and his teenage thugs butcher writer Ellie Cox, her husband and children in their Georgetown home, Cross is devastated because Ellie had been his girlfriend in college. Also puzzling is the appearance of two CIA operatives at the crime scene. When another DC family is slain, Cross vows to do all that it takes to solve these vicious murders. 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 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. The Cox family massacre proves to be just the first in a series. Cross pursues the Tiger to Nigeria, where the Cross finds himself at the mercy of corrupt government officials who may be working with the Tiger. Craig's brief cameo toward the end suggests the series will resume its usual path in the next book.

Review: Another gore infested, mind boggling book by James Patterson in his well-loved Alex Cross series (Along Came a Spider and Kiss the Girls are now major motion pictures staring Morgan Freeman). Anyways, if you don't enjoy politics, don't read. If you enjoy learning new things, some at which will tear your heart apart because it's hard to face the facts and reality of the African lifestyle and culture. There is a lot of graphic content and a lot of gruesome details in this story that I really didn't want to know was true. However, the book brings the reality of third-world-countries into perspective, and opens your eyes. On the other hand, Patterson is using the same mo's over and over again. Like in his book "The Big Bad Wolf", the Tiger is not one, but many different people who are trying to hide the real Tiger's identity. It's still a wonderful read, unlike the rest in the series, it's slow starting, but the pace surely thickens. One thing I love and hate about these books is that the chapters are short, two to sometimes three pages. On occassion four. So if you want to just read a few chapters than go to sleep, it won't happen. Even though you're not struggling to get to the end of the chapter like in the Harry Potter Series, at the conclusion of each chapter you want to keep reading because it draws you into its depths. Trust me, I have read several of his books in one day because you can close that book, but it'll only be closed for about a minute because you're mind keeps asking the question, what's gonna happen next???