Jan 13, 2008

Double XX, Marks the Spot

Double Cross by James Patterson, the latest in the Alex Cross series, is a gripping continuation. There are two psychopathic killers on the loose and they are in competition with one another. Alex has yet another love interest, Bree Stone, who just happens to be a detective with the Washington D.C. police department, but Cross is no longer with the FBI or the police department. In fact, he's become the family man, with his own psychiatric practice and patients.

This is the book I've been waiting to read from Patterson. The last two Patterson books I've read have left me wanting better writing and more intricate plots. This has most of both. The writing is better, the characters are sympathetic and varied, and the plot is definitely much less contrived than the previous two.

***Spoiler Alert***
Alex Cross has his patients and comes home for dinner with the family on a daily basis, which is something that his kids are certainly not used to. It's good to see him with the family and the newest love of his life, but you know something will happen to draw him back into the game. First there are a series of killings by a serial murderer interested in having an audience for his crimes, and those audiences get bigger and bigger. Then, Kyle Craig, Alex Cross' archenemy The Mastermind, escapes from the inescapable prison in Colorado. What is Craig after and how did he escape. I almost wished there was more with this storyline, rather than the DCAK murders, but I'm sure that Craig will resurface in the next installment.

DCAK is a ego-maniac in search of his own infamy...he wants to be larger than life, bigger than Kyle Craig, himself. It's this desire to be better and then thinking he is better that becomes DCAK's downfall. I love the meeting of DCAK and Craig. That is the best interlude in the book. The showdown in the alley near the end is suspenseful and nerve-wracking. I couldn't wait to see the outcome.

***End Spoiler Alert***

Patterson does a better job in this book of maintaining my interest in this book. Overall, this series is the most well-crafted of the ones he has created and is probably why it remains so popular. The suspense in the latter half of the book is phenomenal, and I over-thought the book a bit when I was waiting for Bree Stone to turn on Cross and shoot him and reveal herself as part of the coup. It's a great addition to the Cross series, and this time around the end gives you an even bigger lead in to the next book that is sure to come in the series.

2 comments:

Anna said...

Maybe I'll actually have to start reading the Alex Cross books, especially if the others are leaving much to be desired.

Serena said...

The one thing I am bothered by is that Alex seems to have a new woman in every book. It's like he really hasn't gotten over the death of his wife, and goodness knows how long she has been gone, since the beginning of the series.