I, Alex Cross by James Patterson
Paperback, 400 Pages
2010, Vision
ISBN: 0446561967
Series: Book 16 of Alex Cross
Synopsis
Can Alex Cross survive his most chilling - and personal - case ever? Pulled out of a family celebration, Detective Alex Cross gets awful news: A beloved relative has been found brutally murdered. Vowing to catch the killer, he quickly learns that she was mixed up in one of Washington, D.C.'s wildest scenes. And she was not this killer's only victim . . .
The hunt for the murderer leads Alex and his girlfriend, Detective Brianna Stone, to a place where every fantasy is possible, if you have the credentials to get in. Soon they confront some very important, very protected, and very dangerous people who will do anything to keep their secrets safe. As Alex closes in on the killer, he discovers evidence that points to the unimaginable - a revelation that could rock the entire world.
Review
The Alex Cross series has been all over the place in the last few books. Alex, as a character, has often strayed far from his core beliefs in order to solve cases. The cases themselves have been as twisted as always, but they've often lacked the thrills and dynamic force behind that the first books in the series possessed. I, Alex Cross gets Alex back to who he's always supposed to have been. While the mystery meanders at times, which is hard to do given Patterson's patented short chapters, the surprise ending more than makes up for it.
Alex's estranged niece has been murdered and fed into a wood chipper. If that isn't shocking enough, it turns out that she was also a high-priced prostitute to the DC elite. Obviously, this case hits home for Alex, bringing on memories of growing up with his late brother. Alex's family, often disregarded in previous novels despite Alex's profession of guilt, starts making it's way back into the forefront of his life. Which means it's the perfect time for something tragic to happen to Nana Mama.
Nana Mama, Alex's grandmother, has got to be in her 90s. As old as she it, she's still very active in the Cross families lives, doing the cooking, cleaning and raising Alex's youngest son, Ali, in a much more primary role than anyone her age should have to do. When Nana Mama collapses, Alex has to face the possibility of life without her. While he obviously loves his grandmother, I couldn't help thinking that some of his worry was for a future of taking care of his family without the extra help. Which meshes easily with his relationship with fellow cop, Bree. As she pitches in helping with Alex's family during Nana Mama's health crisis, you can see the obvious transitioning of responsibility from grandmother to girlfriend. Bree may be wonderful for helping out, but one has to wonder why Patterson feels he must always have a woman doing the "woman's work" in Alex's world. Just once I'd like to see Alex scrub his own toilet or something.
The case involving Alex's niece is twisty, involving many secondary characters. While it makes for a realistic portrayal of how investigations may pan out, it leads the reader on seemingly endless, unimportant jaunts that end up no where. Of course, everything ties together neatly in the end leading to a shocking conclusion, but readers may become annoyed and give up halfway into the book when the millionth red herring appears.
I, Alex Cross does a lot in getting Alex's life back in order. It's not perfect, but it gives fans of the series hope that future books could get back to the brilliance the series once was.
Rating
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