Memphis Reads Archive

Fiction/Suspense

Beth reviews CROSS by James Patterson (Little, Brown and Co., 2006)

Some things haunt you forever—like holding your wife in your arms as she dies. Alex Cross was kissing Maria hello and apologizing for picking her up late when the shots rang out. . . shots that took Maria and their unborn child away from their happy family and left him with a life-long mission—to find her killer.

In Cross, author James Patterson reveals "the man" behind psychologist/detective/FBI agent Alex Cross. We see the young widower raising two babies, and later a third. We mourn the loss of Maria with him. We witness Nanna Mama bringing comfort and order to their home. We applaud as Cross treats his patients with kindness and respect. Years pass and the family grows to be happy and content. . . except for the burden Alex carries—the knowledge that Maria Simpson Cross died in his arms and that her killer was still on the loose.

In contrast, Patterson also reveals what time has brought to the life of Michael Sullivan, raised in Brooklyn’s butcher trade by his father from the age of 6 to 11. At 17 he dropped out of high school and began to work for the mob—murder for hire. He became known as the "Butcher of Sligo," always ending every murder with a bow and some pictures of his "co-stars." But now things have changed; the mob boss’s son is in-charge and doesn’t like the Butcher. Even though Michael Sullivan chose to hide in plain sight with a bourgeois, bohemian lifestyle—a blonde wife, three boys and all the joys a Yuppie life could provide—the mob is tracking him and his family.

Alex is ready to make peace with his wife’s death:

"This has to to end.
Right here, right now.
Somebody dies.
Somebody lives."

…the phone sounds like an alarm. . . " Cross family residence," I answer. . . .
"There’s been a murder," I hear and my stomach falls.
I pause a beat before I say anything. "Why are you calling me?" I ask.
"Because you’re Dr. Cross, and I’m the murderer."

Ready for more James Patterson? The Library has his most recent book STEP ON A CRACK (2007) for you to enjoy!


Beth, Highland Branch Library

Labels: Reviews by Beth, Suspense