For all Alex Cross fans, there comes that time of anticipation when a new book is about to be released and you wonder what trials and tribulations Dr. Cross will have to go through to solve the case. And the true fan knows there will most probably be a twist at the very end that you didn't expect because the "first" ending seemed to have the mystery so neatly tied up. In CROSS COUNTRY, James Patterson does have the same formula for Dr. Cross, but it just seems to lack a few crucial ingredients that make it all come together in a logical, while unexpected, way. Devoted fans can believe anything James Patterson writes about Alex Cross, but CROSS COUNTRY calls upon us to be really loyal and forgiving.
Dr. Cross is called to a home invasion that just happens to be a friend of his from his past. The entire family is brutally murdered and Alex is his typical clever detecting self, picking up clues at the scene that will come to mean something later on in the story. When another brutal murder with the same characteristics of the first takes place, Alex realizes he is looking for a possible serial killer.
Information is found that reveals a killer known as the Tiger seems to be in charge of these murders. He works with a pack of very young boys who grew up surrounded by poverty, war, and killings. Their homeland is in Africa and Cross finds some obscure connection there and so follows after this crowd of killers much to the dismay of his supporters and family. With his trademark short chapters that keep fans reading "just one more", James Patterson takes Alex Cross to a world we have never seen him in.
Patterson has Cross engulfed in the middle of today's headlines with the atrocities that are happening now in places like Nigeria, Sudan, and Darfur. The story in Africa is brutal and violent in a way much more than a Patterson novel would normally have Cross in. In some ways, James Patterson was able to bring some attention to the carnage in Africa through the use of a well-loved character like Dr. Cross. I think it may have been part of his intent as even our hero, Alex Cross, would not have survived all that he was put though, nor would he have made some of the bad decisions he did like going there in the first place with little to no information or back up.
Of course, Dr. Cross does finally make it home only to face a more personal attack by the Tiger and one that he may not survive, or even want to. Will this be the end of Alex Cross? I am fairly sure we all know the answer to this. However, in true Patterson style Alex's arch enemy enters near the end of the story just briefly, but enough for the reader to wonder and hope that Kyle Craig just may be part of the next Alex Cross adventure. Thus, we are left again wanting more of Alex Cross and forgiving James Patterson for taking us a bit astray of our normal Dr. Cross adventure.
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