Hope To Die by James Patterson

Synopsis:

Detective Alex Cross is being stalked by a psychotic genius, forced to play the deadliest game of his career. Cross's family--his loving wife Bree, the wise and lively Nana Mama, and his precious children--have been ripped away. Terrified and desperate, Cross must give this mad man what he wants if he has any chance of saving the most important people in his life. The stakes have never been higher: What will Cross sacrifice to save the ones he loves?

Hope to Die brings readers the conclusion to the story that began in Cross My Heart. It is a crazy and emotional run and has one of the most disturbing antagonists in the whole series to date.

Can there really be a perfect criminal? Or can one man withstand trying tests to take him down in the end?

That is Cross’s mission, and he learns a lot about himself and his family along the way.

I must say, with every book I read in this series, I just like Bree more and more as a character, and this one didn’t let me down there. She gets stronger and more integral to the series with every book, and she is definitely one of my favorite characters overall from this series.

Hope to Die is a page turner, and I don’t think anyone will be let down by the awesome ending.

Somehow I ended up reading this book before Cross My Heart. It made a lot more sense once I went back and read that one. Goes to show, you should never skip a book in a series.

4.5/5 stars

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Cross My Heart by James Patterson

Synopsis:

Detective Alex Cross is a family man at heart--nothing matters more to him than his children, his grandmother, and his wife Bree. His love of his family is his anchor, and gives him the strength to confront evil in his work. One man knows this deeply, and uses Alex's strength as a weapon against him. When the ones Cross loves are in danger, he will do anything to protect them. If he does anything to protect them, they will die.

Alex Cross’s family is always in danger. He is a well known man in the criminal circuit because he solves the majority of his cases.

This book takes it a step further. His family is actually taken away from him and he doesn’t know how to get them back. It seems that any action will cause their death. Being a family man, this is the worst reality he could ever imagine facing.

This novel brings us two cases – Alex’s family being taken and “massage” parlors being shot up and babies being kidnapped.

We meet two very different psychopaths. One is cold blooded and very intelligent. He is the one taking Cross’s life away from him. The other is a heartbreaking tale of a rotten childhood.

I wish the second case had been explored more. It seemed that after the reveal happened, the storyline was just dropped and never returned to it. I wanted to know more about the man.

Overall, this was a pretty fast paced book. But, it took me a bit of time to get through it. I accidentally read Hope To Die before this one, so I knew how everything turned out before it happened. If I didn’t it would have made this much more of a thriller for me, but it was still a page turner.

3.5/5 Stars

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Alex Cross’s Trial by James Patterson

Synopsis:

From his grandmother, Alex Cross has heard the story of his great uncle Abraham and his struggles for survival in the era of the Ku Klux Klan. Now, Alex passes the family tale along to his own children in a novel he's written--a novel called Trial.

Connected by blood

As a lawyer in turn-of-the-century Washington D.C., Ben Corbett represents the toughest cases. Fighting against oppression and racism, he risks his family and his life in the process. When President Roosevelt asks Ben to return to his home town to investigate rumors of the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan there, he cannot refuse.

United by bravery

When he arrives in Eudora, Mississippi, Ben meets the wise Abraham Cross and his beautiful granddaughter, Moody. Ben enlists their help, and the two Crosses introduce him to the hidden side of the idyllic Southern town. Lynchings have become commonplace and residents of the town's black quarter live in constant fear. Ben aims to break the reign of terror--but the truth of who is really behind it could break his heart.

This book is quite a step away from the regular Alex Cross novels, but it is every bit as intriguing… and much more disturbing.

It tackles the history of the Cross family led by one Abraham Cross a strong and extremely intelligent man living in the KKK dominated South.

It was hard not to cringe at some of the things going on in this book because the way people were, and still are, treated due to skin color is just plain sickening. It is one of those books that you don’t really want to believe, but know that there is some historical accuracy laced into every page.

It was a good book, but hard to get through for reasons above. I say any fan of the Cross series should definitely give it a shot even though it is separate from the main series.

4/5 Stars

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