Synopsis (with Spoilers)

This book starts with the murders of a mother, a daughter, and a son, who were both stripped away from their genitals and breasts. Although it was an explicit description of the scene, the details makes the readers paint their own pictures rather than it being descriptive.

To the scene, Alex Cross is called to take a look at it and analyze the act. Then, Alex Cross gets called onto the case of two privileged kids who go to private school, and get kidnapped.

In the book, Alex Cross is a black man who has a PhD in Psychology from John Hopkins Mayo Clinic, a single father of two, and a crime detective who cares about his job. As a reader, I appreciate the fact that Patterson breaks all the stereotypes by writing his black characters educated, caring, and smart. What I didn’t like about Alex Cross is that he doesn’t sound black in dialogue, but maybe to some readers he does.  Alex Cross is a southern boy with his roots coming from North Carolina, and calls the Capital his home. In the book, Cross cares about the black people in his life and his work, loves his grandmother as she’s the one who takes care of his two kids, and is a romantic despite the fact that his partner Jezzie was the one who became an accomplice and kidnapped both children. I wasn’t surprised that Jezzie was involved, I saw that coming, but it was interesting to read how Jezzie was involved into the Secret Service. 

As for the romance, I didn’t pay attention to it. I tend to that when it comes to heterosexual romances. Good thing about it is that it happened quick.

The antagonist in the story is Gary Soneji. Gary Soneji is the one who killed all the characters in the first scene, and kidnapped both of the kids. In this book, we follow the brutal acts of Gary as he tortures and kills many people, all for the fame. Gary wants to be remembered as America’s Greatest Killer. Patterson writes Gary as a sociopath, acting like having two personalities . 

What I liked about the book:

I like how it was a fast paced book, full of action and dialogue. The book was an easy read and because of it, I was able to read through this book pretty quickly. 

I was also fully entertained. There were parts of the book where I was surprised to it’s plot twists. I just didn’t love the book. 

What I didn’t like about the book:

It was too long. I feel like this book could of been shortened, but it was still thrilling to see what happened next.

It also felt predictable. There were times when I could see where the plot was going, but it was still entertaining to see where the plot takes me.

I didn’t like the trial. Part of the fun was looking and trying to catch the guy, but after they caught him and showed the trial, I was sorta bored and uninterested in the plot. I only kept going because I wanted to know how it would end. 

What could of made the book better:

If there was more charm in the book. I would of love to read more about Alex Cross’s home life with his Nana. 

Will I read more books by this author?

I’m only going to read more books by James Patterson because I’m going to write an expose blog post on his books, but if it weren’t for research, I wouldn’t. I feel like all of his books have a formula. There’s always a murderer, a detective, a love story that ends up in sex, and a surprise into finding the murder. At this point, I know what to expect out of James Patterson’s, and I’m already bored from his work.