The sixteenth book in the Cross series is closer to the earlier novels than the last couple have been. No travel, no stories from the past, just dead bodies on home turf - Washington. A member of the Cross family is killed. It looks like this person is part of a sex scandal involving the White House. A secondary plot line involves trouble at home for Alex.
If you're a faithful reader, then there won't be any surprises. The crime is gruesome, the details somewhat graphic, the killer devious. Our heartstrings are pulled by incidents in Alex's personal life. I was somewhat disappointed by the ending though.
I listened to this in audio format. There were two readers - Tim Cain and Michael Cerveris. One for Alex and one for the villain Zeus. Both are new readers for Patterson books, but did a good job. The voice of Alex was rich, deep and sonorous. The voice of Zeus was malevolent.
I listened to an unabridged version of I, Alex Cross. (Not sure why this title was picked?) it was only 6 discs, about 6 hours long. So I'm guessing the book was a fairly short read as well. I may give Patterson a bit of a rest - the stories seem to becoming quite formulaic for me.
I think his books really are short. The chapters are ususally 3 pages long. After reading your review, I think this one will be on the back burner for now. Thanks for sharing your honest opinion.
ReplyDeleteHave a great week and hopefully you'll find a 5* read that is not formulaic.
I know they're not great literature, but I do enjoy the Alex Cross series too. Glad to see this book is good.
ReplyDeleteI am getting ready to review this....
ReplyDeleteThanks for writing, I enjoyed reading what you wrote!!
-CYM
Wonderful post -- why don't you have a "print this" button?
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