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Cross Country (Alex Cross Novels) Manufacturer: Little, Brown and Company List price: $27.99 115 new, used & collectible available from $9.82. |
| 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. |
Cross Country (Alex Cross Novels)
Customer Reviews / Cross Country (Alex Cross Novels)
| I basically agree with the fundamental themes running thoughout many of the reviews already posted. I generally enjoy the Alex Cross series, as well as the Women's Murder Club novels. I have often been disappointed in the other Patterson books I have read, however. I suspect this disaster is a result of Patterson forgetting what he is--a crank'em out pulp fiction writer--and thinking for a moment that he has the capacity to be a serious novelist. The story he attempts to undertake in this book is one that requires the time and intensity of someone who knows how to write (in addition to being a good storyteller) and who is willing to devote the 400-500 pages needed to do so. |
| If you have been waiting for a fiction writer to bring you up to speed on current events in the world today, then you might enjoy this book. If you were looking for an interesting or cohesive narrative, look elsewhere. And if you enjoy this series, beware, for the Alex Cross you know and love is nowhere to be found in this book. I couldn't even finish it. |
| This book is so implausible it should be reviewed as a fantasy. The entire Nigerian portion of this book is unbelievable. Cross would never have made it out alive. Additionally, he keeps chasing the killer without any plan as to what would happen once he found him. Once again the book uses the same old story line, "Cross's family is in danger." How many times is Patterson going to use this dribble. This book does not come close to the other Cross novels. Don't waste your time. |
| I have read many of James Patterson's books, and I know what I'm getting. A well written book that will end weakly with the criminal mastermind getting away,. and Cross vowing revenge. I don't have unusually high standards, but this book was a joke. The premise of the main crime is a nigerian hired killer, a huge powerful psychopath who is paid to not only kill, but with his merry gang of 13 year old thugs, but to dismember the entire families of the intended victims. So.. if you know anything about Alex Cross, you know he has several kids, and a grandmother who mean everything to him. So with a killer out slaughtering families, the first thing he'd do is protect them, right? WRONG. He leaves them to go play cowboys and indians in AFRICA in a split second decision that takes mere hours to enact. He almost dies a million times, and the novel feels sophomoric and unbelievable. There are evil men killing over diamond minds, and Darfur is brought to the forefront, but overall, you spend your time wondering what happened to Patterson's skill in building a tightly woven suspense thriller. Nothing makes alot of sense, and it's a perfect waste of the 3 or 4 hours is takes to make it through the book. Oh, and Patterson has disocvered the Exclamation point! and he uses it too often! it seems stupid! This book had everything it needed to be an extraordinary tale, and it went the way of a big budget box office action movie... no substance & no feeling. Glad I only paid a couple bux for the book. |
| If you are new to the Alex Cross series, don't start here. It is not one of the better books in the series. I'll start with the improbable: The Alex Cross we have known since the beginning of this series never would have done what he did in this book. He just never would have decided to chase a killer to Nigeria with no identifying information about the killer other than his accent and no contacts other than the name of a local CIA agent. He didn't even contact Homeland Security to get information on Nigerian nationals travelling between the US and Nigeria to narrow down the possibilities. And if he was crazy enough to consider that course of action, his buddy Sampson would have convinced him it was bad police work. After his first few days in Nigeria, any normal person would have gone home. But the Alex who shows up in this book keeps running into more and more dangerous situations over which he has no control. This is not a book for the squeamish. It starts with a brutal home invasion and multiple murders and the killing continues fairly frequently throughout the book. In between the multiple murders, there are beatings (mostly of Alex) and random other atrocities. There is one bright spot in all the violence: it reminds us of the ongoing genocide in Darfur and brings it down to a level that is more easily internalized. It is an oddity of human nature that the experiences of a handful of fictional characters can sometimes make horrific human events more "real" than seeing news coverage. The possibility that people who read this book will become more interested in the events happening in Darfur is the only thing that makes any sense of sending Alex Cross to Africa. I'd have been more impressed if Patterson had indicated he was donating a good portion of his advance for this book to aid for the refugee camps in Darfur. The pace of the plot (improbable thought it may be) is fast enough to keep the reader moving. With all the other faults, at least it wasn't boring. |
Cross Country (Alex Cross Novels)
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