Cross Country (Alex Cross) - Hardcover

Patterson, James

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0316024643 ISBN 13: 9780316024648

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company, 2008

Synopsis

When the home of Alex Cross's longtime friend, Ellie Cox, is turned into the worst murder scene Alex has ever seen, he is devastated. The destruction leads him to believe that he's chasing a horrible new breed of killer. As Alex and his girlfriend Brianna Stone begin the hunt for the villain responsible for the killings, they quickly find themselves entangeled in the deadly Nigerian underworld of Washington D.C.. What they discover is shocking: a strongly organized gang of teenage thugs headed by a powerful, diabolical man-The Tiger.
As the killing spree escalates, Alex and Brianna realize they are not dealing with any ordinary killer, but one who has brought his personal war of vengeance to America's capital. But just when the detectives think they're closing in on the elusive murderer, the Tiger disappears into thin air. Unable to let the killer get away with this narrow escape, Alex makes it his duty to bring the brutal butcher to justice. He knows that he must follow The Tiger. Alone.
When Alex arrives in Nigeria, he discovers a world where justice is as foreign as he is. Unprotected and alone in a strange country, bombarded on all sides by the murderous threats of The Tiger, Alex must draw on his fiercest instincts just to survive in a lawless world.
From the author Time magazine has called "the man who can't miss," Cross Country is the most breathtaking, heart-stopping, electrifing Alex Cross thriller yet.

About this title

Review:

The Alex Cross thrillers of James Paterson have become something of an institution. His criminal psychologist protagonist is one of the most vividly etched in the field, and the now-lengthy series of books has set a consistently high standard, even though Paterson's famous reliance on co-writers has become rather controversial. Cross Country involves Alex Cross in a caustic personal war against major-league corruption. It’s a narrative that takes the reader across a massive canvas. Alex is called in after a murder investigation - a crime that has resulted in considerable carnage. He discovers to his horror that the victim is an old friend, and this makes his search for the criminal involved even more determined than usual. His quest takes him into the underworld corners of Washington, DC, and even on to a massively dangerous odyssey to the Niger Delta.

The stakes are customarily high in James Patterson's crime narratives, but the author has ratcheted them up even more than usual here, with heroin traffic and the slave trade mixed into a heady brew. Perhaps the most memorably drawn character here is the psychopathic head of a group of killers, the 'Tiger'. The latter’s battle with Alex Cross has clearly re-energised the author, and Cross Country has all the compelling qualities of the earlier novels. If you haven't sampled an Alex Cross novel recently, this is the one to pick up. --Barry Forshaw

Review:

"[Cross Country] opens with one of the most chilling murder scenes I've read in a long time ... High-octane stuff" (Daily Express)

"It was absolutely fantastic ... Cross Country has an amazing sense of speed, there's a really brilliant tension in the plot ... You're just completely engrossed in it from start to finish ... The story is unrelentingly exciting" (The Simon Mayo show, BBC Radio 5 Live)

About this edition

• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0316024643
• ISBN 13: 9780316024648
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 464