Kill Alex Cross [Hardcover]

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Kill Alex Cross [Hardcover]

Product Details

Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; First Edition edition (November 14, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0316198730
ISBN-13: 978-0316198738
Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 1.2 x 9.8 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

By : James Patterson
List Price : ~~$28.99~~
Price : $18.08
You Save : $10.91 (38%)

Customer Reviews

I have been a constant reader of every Alex Cross book since the beginning and am a major fan.
They are usually exciting and great entertainment for a few hours. I really look forward to them.
But then comes this stinker.
The plot seems like cheap cardboard. I was one step ahead of every twist and I'm usually far from that good.
The character development was nil.
The home backstory that I always enjoy was reduced to tossing in a random girl, a hardly filled out charter school and leaving it at that.
Alex, who is brilliant, bumbled his way through the book and the villain, who doesn't hold a candle to Kyle Craig or even Gary Seneji, is reputed to be really smart and Alex can't get a take on him. I didn't buy it for a minute.
The terrorist villains were even more cardboard.
It seemed to me that this was the sort of outline that Patterson would give to one of his factory workers to turn it into something palatable. The major plot points were there, but the color was sorely missing.
Maybe Patterson is trying out a new marketing strategy of a series of "write your own Alex Cross book" since that what this one seemed to me. It was nothing more than notes for a potentially good book.
Alex seemed weak and nasty.
Nana seemed even too strident for her usual over-the-top portrayal.
The kids got short shrift.
Sampson was there for as place holder.
We deserve better.
Lots better.

I have to disagree with the other reviews on here - this latest Alex Cross novel is fantastic! The President of the United States has had his two teenage children kidnapped from their high-security school whilst at the same time, terrorist attacks are being carried out all over Washington DC. It's Alex's job, as well as pretty much every department imaginable, to see whether these two major incidents are connected as well bringing the children to safety and stopped further attacks on the capital.
As always with this series, the action is pretty much non-stop from the opening chapter. Old characters return and new ones are introduced and as the story is told from many points of view rather than just from Alex's this time it gives a bigger picture of this exciting tale as it unfolds. The story is continually fast-paced and thoroughly exciting, it had me sneaking a read of it every chance I could get (I love having the Kindle app on my iPhone!).
I've been looking forward to this book all year and I wasn't disappointed. If you're a fan of the series then I would definitely recommend reading this. It's gone from the serial killer thriller territory to a more anti-terrorism theme and it works very well. I just wish James Patterson would hurry up with the Alex Cross/Women's Murder Club cross-over that was hinted in Cross Fire (Alex Cross) now.