DOUBLE CROSS by James Patterson
James Patterson is back in top form with his new novel DOUBLE CROSS. But writing about his readers' favorite character Alex Cross always brings out the best in him. In Cross, Patterson has created a man who is ambitious, brave, funny and a hopeless romantic. He is always looking for true love, the kind of love he had with his first wife who he lost to an act of violence. Since Cross has so many facets to his character, Patterson can take him in a million different directions.
In this new book Alex has retired from police work and is practicing psychiatry. He has a new love in his life and she is Bree Stone, a police detective. When Bree catches a case involving a killer who likes the attention of the public, Cross' old investigative juices resurface. In just a short time he is back on the force and involved in the case.
The case is one of the most brutal Patterson has ever created. It involves a man and a woman who thrive on attention. They create killing situations where the public will be the audience to their crimes. The murders they commit are bold and daring and almost unspeakably cruel because of their randomness,
While these killers are plying their trade, Kyle Craig escapes from prison. He is the former FBI officer that Cross captured a few books ago. He was one of Cross' hardest killers to catch and now he is once more on the loose. To make matters worse, there seems to be some kind of connection between him and the other killers.
Once again Patterson tells his story in short staccato chapters. For him it works. Other authors have emulated this style but it didn't seem effective for them. Patterson keeps his chapters short and his plot defined. Here are no superfluous subplots messing up this story. It is on point from start to finish.
James Patterson is one of America's most popular writers and therefore he has a reputation to maintain. Each new book is in competition with the memory of the past ones. Amazingly he is able to keep his new books, especially the Alex Cross series, fresh and challenging. DOUBLE CROSS doesn't feel forced or rehashed. It is prime Patterson from start to finish.
DOUBLE CROSS is published by Little, Brown and Company. It contains 389 pages and sells for $27.99.