I was on an Alex Cross vacation for 2009. Kind of because I was a tad burnt out and kind of because it was hard to get the book from the library. However, for my first book of 2009 I went with an old friend and walked away a little disappointed.
Cross Country finds the DC area hit by vicious murders of entire families. Cross and his girlfriend are of course on the case to find The Tiger, the ringleader of the violent gang of young African boys. Alex is of course personally touched by these murders because one of his ex-girlfriends and her family was savagely killed by The Tiger. Alex gets a tip that The Tiger is back in Nigeria and surprise, surprise has to go and track him down.. Because I mean, it is HIS case of course.
Of course there is dramatics. Of course he finds an attractive woman to spend his time with. Of course there is deception. Of course there is a twist. Of course he somehow is a hero. Of course I may have rolled my eyes a time or two.
I am glad I went on a hiatus of Alex Cross and am still wondering why I continue to read them. Probably because I am a sucker for a series. But I will say, that James Patterson must be a magnificent author for me to feel strongly about how his character has become too narcissistic for me. Like I told him my husband, Alex Cross should have died within the first 100 pages, but of course did not. At that point I got annoyed. I kept getting annoyed. The twists at the end? Stupid, predictable and unbelievable.
Now I will say, this book did touch on some very important subjects. Mainly the very uneasy and unpredictable and violent nature of life in Africa. About the abuse of power and the stealing of resources. Of using power and violence to get stuff done. Of government corruption and denial. Of rape and genocide. However, I think that was lost in the Alex Cross love affair with himself. Oh, lets save these ladies from the Janjaweed and ooh now they are calling him Mohammad Ali... ::rolls eyes;::
So, I may have outgrown Alex Cross but it definitely left me feeling uneasy for those who do not have an easy and safe life that we enjoy here in the US.
