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4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
This book has been in my Amazon Wishlist for several months, and on the day it got officially released, I was all over it! It only took me two days to finish it.
Yes, I have read all the other books in the Alex Cross series, and really enjoyed all of them.
Despite the title, it was more a book about his partner, James Sampson, as Alex Cross spends most of the book recuperating from some injuries. I don’t want to spoil it. But I will say, it was full of action and lots of twists and turns. Just like, all the other Alex Cross books.
I liked the fact that it was told from James Sampson’s point of view, rather Alex Cross. I can easily see more books about him.
Yes, I have read all the other books in the Alex Cross series, and really enjoyed all of them.
Despite the title, it was more a book about his partner, James Sampson, as Alex Cross spends most of the book recuperating from some injuries. I don’t want to spoil it. But I will say, it was full of action and lots of twists and turns. Just like, all the other Alex Cross books.
I liked the fact that it was told from James Sampson’s point of view, rather Alex Cross. I can easily see more books about him.
I love this series, and know I have some blind spots.
However I am in for the ride and imagine I will read the series until it ends.
I do have some gripes however.
This is definitely not the first character of Patterson's who has to go rouge from law enforcement to save the nation, it is kind of a staple at this point.
However James keeps having his black characters do things that do not make a whole lot of sense, why does Sampson have to steal like 8 cars in this book? It just seems like James needs a few more black friends to vet some of the writing choices he makes about his lead black characters.
More of an issue is the continued flattening and false equivalence given to social issues and terrorist groups.
In this story there is an attempt to attack "both sides" to make things more random and lead to the climax of the story.
This was done in Trial as well where in the midst of a conversation on policing and body camera's James wrote a book of a cop getting framed when he kills someone on camera.
In this story black lives matter protesters are killed in the same chapter a Klan meeting was disrupted by a violent attack. That is a bit lazy and irresponsible even if it fits in the story, there are a lot more dangerous terror groups on the right in this period of history and America's most prolific writer who almost exclusively writes stories where the main characters are apolitical cops who solve issues by killing the "evil" antagonists could do the bare minimum of not contributing to the false narrative of extremists on both sides.
Specifically in this book, written and released after the attempted coup on Jan. 6th, it is okay to be honest about where the threats have come from and continue to occur you will still sell millions of books to your mostly moderate to conservative white audience, you just won't continue the the narrative that they will perpetuate at thanksgiving (when many of your books are released) all by themselves. Be bold, be honest, be responsible.
Great plot and idea otherwise, always nice to switch it up, wonder if Alex will retire soon given his rough last few years.
However I am in for the ride and imagine I will read the series until it ends.
I do have some gripes however.
This is definitely not the first character of Patterson's who has to go rouge from law enforcement to save the nation, it is kind of a staple at this point.
However James keeps having his black characters do things that do not make a whole lot of sense, why does Sampson have to steal like 8 cars in this book? It just seems like James needs a few more black friends to vet some of the writing choices he makes about his lead black characters.
More of an issue is the continued flattening and false equivalence given to social issues and terrorist groups.
In this story there is an attempt to attack "both sides" to make things more random and lead to the climax of the story.
This was done in Trial as well where in the midst of a conversation on policing and body camera's James wrote a book of a cop getting framed when he kills someone on camera.
In this story black lives matter protesters are killed in the same chapter a Klan meeting was disrupted by a violent attack. That is a bit lazy and irresponsible even if it fits in the story, there are a lot more dangerous terror groups on the right in this period of history and America's most prolific writer who almost exclusively writes stories where the main characters are apolitical cops who solve issues by killing the "evil" antagonists could do the bare minimum of not contributing to the false narrative of extremists on both sides.
Specifically in this book, written and released after the attempted coup on Jan. 6th, it is okay to be honest about where the threats have come from and continue to occur you will still sell millions of books to your mostly moderate to conservative white audience, you just won't continue the the narrative that they will perpetuate at thanksgiving (when many of your books are released) all by themselves. Be bold, be honest, be responsible.
Great plot and idea otherwise, always nice to switch it up, wonder if Alex will retire soon given his rough last few years.
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
I gave this 4 stars but wavered between a 3 and 4. This is labeled as being part of the cross series but I knew that it was about Sampson and not Alex.
I knew it wouldn’t be the same as the Cross series since it is co-authored. It took me longer to read than a normal Cross book. Because it didn’t flow as well as when Patterson writes himself.
Spoiler alert past this point
The reason I went with 4 stars. I was expecting this to be connected to M from the end of the last book. M did not make a clear appearance. However the book felt like a mix of other thrillers such as presidents is missing or presidents daughter and few others.
What I can’t tell is does this book feed into the Nov Cross book or is the cliff hanger for the next Sampson book?
I did like the story not know who is the good guy or who is the bad guy. When I thought they snatched Willow my heart sank. I will read the next one just because I know it’s not a Cross book but it has its own depths.
I knew it wouldn’t be the same as the Cross series since it is co-authored. It took me longer to read than a normal Cross book. Because it didn’t flow as well as when Patterson writes himself.
Spoiler alert past this point
The reason I went with 4 stars. I was expecting this to be connected to M from the end of the last book. M did not make a clear appearance. However the book felt like a mix of other thrillers such as presidents is missing or presidents daughter and few others.
What I can’t tell is does this book feed into the Nov Cross book or is the cliff hanger for the next Sampson book?
I did like the story not know who is the good guy or who is the bad guy. When I thought they snatched Willow my heart sank. I will read the next one just because I know it’s not a Cross book but it has its own depths.
mysterious
tense
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This book was not right from the very first chapter. The vibe that you get from Sampson in the Alex Cross novels is completely different from how he is portrayed in this novel. Then people coming up to him telling him how big and black he is all the time was just awkward. The author had him running around operating like a common criminal. Stealing cars and killing people but I guess the advice from Ned Mahoney to trust no one was supposed to explain that behavior. I won't even get into what happened to Alex Cross. It was also weird to have Grissom thinking about how skinny another character is before so called complimenting her. This book was a complete and utter let down...
A fast action paced thriller- the best part is the fast chapters which makes the book fly by! Underlying concept is spooky (military taking over the US) but if you don’t think too deeply about it, the thriller portion is enjoyable.
Wow, this was quite the roller coaster of a read! It's also rooted in what's been happening currently with our country. Multiple terrorist strikes have happened all over and authorities are stumped as to who is behind them. Although this is a book in the Alex Cross series (my personal favorite), the story is focused on Alex's best friend military vet and now DC Metro Policeman, John Sampson. It tells a tale of John's time in the middle east and what he could have seen that may be connected with the terrorists strikes going on. It a very fast paced book that keeps you guessing and anticipating the end.