A Book A Week

With as many books as I read each year, it is pretty rare for me to keep up to date with a series. There are just too many books to read with not enough time! That being said, James Patterson's Alex Cross series is the exception. My mom has gifted me the latest book each year for Christmas, so it has become a personal tradition to stay current on Patterson's series. Alex Cross continues to be his best and most consistent character, so I always look forward to reading the next one. As has become another kind of tradition, I've procrastinated nearly a year to read the current book Deadly Cross. Armed with my hardcover copy and an afternoon to kill, I finally settled into the familiar warmth of the latest Alex Cross novel. 

DC Metro Police Commissioner Bree Stone has called upon her husband Alex Cross to review the scene of a brutal murder. The half-clothed remains of a man and woman have been found in a car right outside of a prominent charter school. The school happens to be the same institution that Alex's daughter attends, and Alex is surprised to see that he is familiar with both of the victims. The first is the very much still married man who founded and runs the charter school. The second is both a former patient of Alex's and the ex-wife of a man at the height of his political career. As Alex assists Bree in taking in the scene he is certain of one thing. This murder is about to rock the entire community. 

Patterson usually has multiple cases going on in his books, and this one is no exception. As the main murder investigation progresses, Alex, his partner Sampson, and Bree also focus on the disappearance of several missing girls, and an odd incident that has seen various politicians shot at. There's a lot happening in the book, but it all comes together in the end. Beyond the various mysteries, Patterson spends a good amount of time updating us on his characters. The Cross family has grown over the course of the series, and we get to see a bit about how each of them is doing. Tragedy strikes the extended Cross family early on in the book, and it forces Alex to slow down, reflect on his own life, and volley with the worth of his career in relation to his role as a father. 

As far as James Patterson novels go, Deadly Cross is a pretty good one. Patterson seems to have found his stride again with the characters, and this one continues the story with everything I've come to appreciate about these books. First, there are the mysteries. Three of them to be exact. Each of them draws in both Alex and the reader as they begin to mesh with his personal life, tying him closer to each case. I was enthralled with the hunt and couldn't stop reading. Patterson is known for burning through a plot, and this one certainly had the pages flying. I've always said, though, that the true strength of the Alex Cross series lies within the characters that Patterson has built over the course of 28 novels. Deadly Cross sees the family grappling with their own mortality and coming together to face an unexpected tragedy. It was hard not to share in all of their emotions, especially having seen them evolve with each new book. Character work and the ever-intriguing puzzle of several active investigations propel the book, making it one of the better Alex Cross novels in recent years. Suffice it to say, I'll be eagerly awaiting the next book later this year. 

For more information visit the author's website, Amazon, and Goodreads. 

(2021, 39)