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A review by samibart
Ali Cross by James Patterson
3.0
Full disclosure: won this book in a goodreads giveaway. I initially entered because I thought it was a regular James Patterson book, not one for children. Alas I read it anyway. Only having read around 5 James Patterson books, this one did not seem up to the same caliber. This is probably because it was meant for children so I'm not exactly the target audience (I am 24 years old). None the less, here are some thoughts I had about the book.
1. Alex Cross, Ali Cross' dad who has his own series has a very prominent role in this book. I thought this book was about Ali, but half of this book was about Alex and from his prospective. Alex's story line almost felt like filler so the book could be more substantial. Also his story line felt like it picked up where another book left off. This made it feel like I was missing something and you couldn't read this book without reading the other Alex Cross books, so then what is the point of this book? Alex's story line could have been executed better so it impacted Ali without feeling like it was taking up too much spotlight. It was nice to have Alex's perspective, especially when there was an argument between Ali and Alex because you got to see both sides and how they felt.
2. Alex's story line actually did impact Ali a lot because Alex was going to court and being tried for accidentally almost killing someone (Alex went to question a suspect's father and the man fell down the stairs and is in a coma). Ali being in middle school is going through a lot with his friend missing, plus his dad's upcoming trial, and being bullied. I appreciated seeing Ali's growth in the book and how he learned to deal with bullies in the proper way. My biggest disappoint and something that seems to be very current issue in society is: males showing and talking about their emotions. Ali is clearly going through a lot in the book and not once does his dad really stop and take the time to ask his son how he is doing, getting him to talk out his emotions and frustrations with the progress of his missing friend, the bully at school, how he feels about his dad's trial. PLUS Ali thinks he shouldn't cry and people should never see him cry because his dad doesn't cry and you shouldn't show your emotions like that. EVERYONE NEEDS A GOOD CRY ONCE IN A WHILE TO GET ALL THE EMOTIONS OUT. This boy needs to learn that early on because otherwise he is going to grow up and not be able to know how to express his emotions and talk to someone about how he is feeling. James, good job in having Ali learning how to deal with bullies, even though he had to have a physical fight with one. Fine, learn from your mistakes, violence isn't the answer. But Ali and his emotions could have used a little more work.
3. Ali and Gabe. I enjoyed most of Ali's detective work and how he went about solving the problem. Plus the mystery with Gabe ended in a less predictable way than I thought (thumbs up). The one thing that bothered me and wasn't really answered was the comment about how Gabe doesn't eat lunch with Ali and his friends. This seemed like a throwaway detail to build Gabe's mysterious backstory. But it made me wonder if Ali was a detective, why didn't he ever try to figure it out? What did Gabe do every day during lunch? Why didn't he want to eat with them? I guess Ali didn't want to cross any personal boundaries, but wouldn't the detective in him want to know the answer?
4. This is pretty minor but bothered me. Ever time current culture was added for no reason. Naming Outpost was necessary because it was a major part of the book. But dropping Stranger Things, Marvel Avengers Movies, and "I was watching The Incredibles 2 with Nana..."(page 212) are completely unnecessary and really date the book. I personally think it makes the book less enjoyable to read years from now. But that's just me. (PS4 is excluded in my opinion because its equipment and not current entertainment).
5. Not sure if this was because I won the book early in a giveaway, but all the text conversations were hard to understand who was talking when without a lot of thinking and rereading. Didn't flow like a normal conversation because the returns and indenting made NO SENSE and didn't differentiate between speakers in the text. Example:
"Hey Alex, I know you're probably asleep, but I heard from
the desk
sergeant that you'd called in the return of those
two stolen weapons. Excellent news!
Alex texted right back.
I'm awake. Still working, but yeah.
Happy to have those in hand again, for sure.
Can you tell me what time that happened?
Just before midnight, why?
We've had another run of robberies
in your neighborhood tonight. Three houses within a
six-block radius. Same basic pattern.
Alex sat back and reread that last text. Three more houses? That was seven in all.
And we're the only ones who had anything returned?
So far, yeah. Weird, right? And hey, I
know you're on admin leave, so you
didn't hear this from me, but we're at
406 4th Street, if you're curious.
The homeowner's in Florida.
We'll be covering this place all night. " (page 85)
1. Alex Cross, Ali Cross' dad who has his own series has a very prominent role in this book. I thought this book was about Ali, but half of this book was about Alex and from his prospective. Alex's story line almost felt like filler so the book could be more substantial. Also his story line felt like it picked up where another book left off. This made it feel like I was missing something and you couldn't read this book without reading the other Alex Cross books, so then what is the point of this book? Alex's story line could have been executed better so it impacted Ali without feeling like it was taking up too much spotlight. It was nice to have Alex's perspective, especially when there was an argument between Ali and Alex because you got to see both sides and how they felt.
2. Alex's story line actually did impact Ali a lot because Alex was going to court and being tried for accidentally almost killing someone (Alex went to question a suspect's father and the man fell down the stairs and is in a coma). Ali being in middle school is going through a lot with his friend missing, plus his dad's upcoming trial, and being bullied. I appreciated seeing Ali's growth in the book and how he learned to deal with bullies in the proper way. My biggest disappoint and something that seems to be very current issue in society is: males showing and talking about their emotions. Ali is clearly going through a lot in the book and not once does his dad really stop and take the time to ask his son how he is doing, getting him to talk out his emotions and frustrations with the progress of his missing friend, the bully at school, how he feels about his dad's trial. PLUS Ali thinks he shouldn't cry and people should never see him cry because his dad doesn't cry and you shouldn't show your emotions like that. EVERYONE NEEDS A GOOD CRY ONCE IN A WHILE TO GET ALL THE EMOTIONS OUT. This boy needs to learn that early on because otherwise he is going to grow up and not be able to know how to express his emotions and talk to someone about how he is feeling. James, good job in having Ali learning how to deal with bullies, even though he had to have a physical fight with one. Fine, learn from your mistakes, violence isn't the answer. But Ali and his emotions could have used a little more work.
3. Ali and Gabe. I enjoyed most of Ali's detective work and how he went about solving the problem. Plus the mystery with Gabe ended in a less predictable way than I thought (thumbs up). The one thing that bothered me and wasn't really answered was the comment about how Gabe doesn't eat lunch with Ali and his friends. This seemed like a throwaway detail to build Gabe's mysterious backstory. But it made me wonder if Ali was a detective, why didn't he ever try to figure it out? What did Gabe do every day during lunch? Why didn't he want to eat with them? I guess Ali didn't want to cross any personal boundaries, but wouldn't the detective in him want to know the answer?
4. This is pretty minor but bothered me. Ever time current culture was added for no reason. Naming Outpost was necessary because it was a major part of the book. But dropping Stranger Things, Marvel Avengers Movies, and "I was watching The Incredibles 2 with Nana..."(page 212) are completely unnecessary and really date the book. I personally think it makes the book less enjoyable to read years from now. But that's just me. (PS4 is excluded in my opinion because its equipment and not current entertainment).
5. Not sure if this was because I won the book early in a giveaway, but all the text conversations were hard to understand who was talking when without a lot of thinking and rereading. Didn't flow like a normal conversation because the returns and indenting made NO SENSE and didn't differentiate between speakers in the text. Example:
"Hey Alex, I know you're probably asleep, but I heard from
the desk
sergeant that you'd called in the return of those
two stolen weapons. Excellent news!
Alex texted right back.
I'm awake. Still working, but yeah.
Happy to have those in hand again, for sure.
Can you tell me what time that happened?
Just before midnight, why?
We've had another run of robberies
in your neighborhood tonight. Three houses within a
six-block radius. Same basic pattern.
Alex sat back and reread that last text. Three more houses? That was seven in all.
And we're the only ones who had anything returned?
So far, yeah. Weird, right? And hey, I
know you're on admin leave, so you
didn't hear this from me, but we're at
406 4th Street, if you're curious.
The homeowner's in Florida.
We'll be covering this place all night. " (page 85)