Cross My Heart

The story is good and, as always, I get so angry at the antagonists and keep rooting for Alex to prevail. THE ENDING TO THIS BOOK IS HORRIBLE, apology from the author notwithstanding. Oh, and really–Alex’s house is bugged again, James Patterson?? It was just bugged in the previous novel. Sloppy work.

The other thing I absolutely hate is that the Kindle version of the series always ends when the book shows about 90% done, just to have a sample of the next book. Stop that! I don’t want to read part of a new book; I want the percentage read to apply to the book I bought for my Kindle.

Alex Crosss family is always in danger. He is a well known man in the criminal circuit because he solves the majority of his cases.
This book takes it a step further. His family is actually taken away from him and he doesnt know how to get them back. It seems that any action will cause their death. Being a family man, this is the worst reality he could ever imagine facing.

This novel brings us two cases Alexs family being taken and massage parlors being shot up and babies being kidnapped.

We meet two very different psychopaths. One is cold blooded and very intelligent. He is the one taking Crosss life away from him. The other is a heartbreaking tale of a rotten childhood.

I wish the second case had been explored more. It seemed that after the reveal happened, the storyline was just dropped and never returned to it. I wanted to know more about the man.

Overall, this was a pretty fast paced book. But, it took me a bit of time to get through it. I accidentally read Hope To Die before this one, so I knew how everything turned out before it happened. If I didnt it would have made this much more of a thriller for me, but it was still a page turner.

3.5/5 Stars

A very intriguing story of a master writer who has created a theory of the perfect criminal.
Chase’s Alex Cross around planting evidence and committing various murders.
He plants bugs in Alex’s house and listens as Cross’es family goes abut their daily lives.
He ends up kidnapping the family members, one at a time until he has everybody but Alex, and he leaves him to ponder the world without his family. Then he tricks Cross into believing the suspect shoots the family.
Very good writing that keeps the reader intrigued and involved throughout the book.

Alex Cross is the Crown Jewel in the Patterson collection. I have read every one of them starting with Along Came a Spider. Some were better than others, but they were all entertaining (if not formulaic) and generally good reads. As I was reading this, and got down to the last few pages, I began to realize that there wasn’t enough book left to deal with the resolution or conclusion of the story. But I was not prepared for how the book actually ended. In fact, it didn’t end … . It brought me back to my childhood when on Saturday morning I saw Flash Gordon’s rocket ship blow up on black and white TV. I knew I would have to wait until next Saturday to see if Flash survived (and of course he did). Will I read the next installment? Of course I will, if for no other reason than to see how Patterson navigates this maze he has created. I suspect there will be at least two more books – a Trilogy – to deal with this villain. This book follows the (recent) trend of books where the author feels compelled to never directly confront the bad guy and decisively vanquish him or her. I am desperately looking for books where there is a hero and a villain and the hero overcomes the bad guy(s) in a decisive, punishing and “revengeful” way (ala Jack Reacher, although those stories are starting to get mushy – I have read every one of those as well). As an escapism outlet for the fact that in real life, one can never seem to find justice or “right wrongs,” I want my books to depict a world where good overcomes evil. I guess I am looking for Fairy Tales – modern day Fairy Tales; Once upon a time, and happily ever after.

I love Patterson’s Alex Cross series. Have read all of them. However, after completing this one , I felt totally cheated and ripped off. I do not appreciate buying a book without knowing that it is just a Part 1 and that if you want to read the end of the book to see what happens, you have to buy another book a year later. That isn’t funny in my opinion. I’m sure everyone has noticed in the last several years that when you go to the grocery store, every week literally the same item goes up in price from the weeks before and you get fewer and fewer ounces of whatever it is. So I guess that now the same rip off policy applies to novels??? So you have to buy two books instead of one to find out how the story ends?? Patterson has sold some 300 million books. Doesn’t he already have PLENTY of money??? I can only imagine. But, no, he has to have even more!! Greed! I personally am now finished with James Patterson books. I won’t even buy Part 2 of this book. So irritated! This is different from reading a series where you know up front that it is a 3 part series or whatever. You can decide then if it’s worth it to you. This book had no such disclosure. Boo hiss. You owe your faithful readers an apology Patterson.

Galaxyaudiobook Member Benefit

- Able to comment

- List watched audiobooks

- List favorite audiobooks

- Bookmark will only available for Galaxyaudiobook member