Cross Country

Overview

When the home of Alex Cross's oldest friend, Ellie Cox, is turned into the worst murder scene Alex has ever seen, the destruction leads him to believe that he's chasing a horrible new breed of killer. As Alex and his girlfriend, Brianna Stone, become entangled in the deadly Nigerian underworld of Washington D.C., what they discover is shocking: a stunningly organized gang of lethal teenagers headed by a powerful, diabolical man-the African warlord known as the Tiger. Just when the detectives think they're closing in on the elusive murderer, the Tiger disappears into thin air. Tracking him to Africa, Alex knows that he must follow. Alone.

Editorial Reviews

Bestseller Patterson's 14th Alex Cross thriller doesn't follow up on the plot threads left dangling in 2007's Double Cross concerning still-on-the-loose serial killer Kyle Craig. Instead, Cross, a Washington, D.C., police detective, takes on a very different quarry-a human monster known as the Tiger with ties to the African underworld. When the Tiger and his teenage thugs butcher writer Ellie Cox, her husband and children in their Georgetown home, Cross is devastated because Ellie had been his girlfriend in college. The Cox family massacre proves to be just the first in a series. Cross pursues the Tiger to Nigeria, where the profiler finds himself at the mercy of corrupt government officials who may be working with the Tiger. Spending less time than usual exploring his villain's psychological backstory, Patterson delivers an atypical tale of James Bond-style revenge. Craig's brief cameo toward the end suggests the series will resume its usual path in the next book. (Nov. 17) Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.

Author Information

Bio of James Patterson

The subject of a recent Time magazine feature called, "The Man Who Can't Miss," James Patterson is the bestselling author of the past year, bar none, with more than 16 million books sold in North America alone. In 2007, one of every 15 hardcover fiction books sold was a Patterson title. In total, James's books have sold an estimated 150 million copies worldwide. He is the first author to have #1 new titles simultaneously on The New York Times adult and children's lists and is the only author to have five new hardcover novels debut at #1 on the list in one year -- a record-breaking feat he's accomplished every year since 2005. To date, James Patterson has had nineteen consecutive #1 New York Times Bestselling Novels, and holds the New York Times record for most bestselling titles by a single author (40 total). Patterson is a champion of reading and the founder of the PageTurner awards, which seek to spread the excitement and joy of books and reading in the United States. James's first foray into family fiction, the critically acclaimed Maximum Ride series, debuted on the New York Times list at #1 and remained there for 12 straight weeks. The series has so far made appearances on The New York Times bestsellers lists 87 times, proving that kids of all ages love page turners. Patterson is the creator of the #1 new detective series of the past dozen years, featuring "Alex Cross" and including the Hollywood-adapted "Along Came a Spider" and "Kiss the Girls," starring Academy Award-winning actor Morgan Freeman. He is also the creator of the #1 new detective series of the past five years, featuring Lindsay Boxer and the other members of the Women's Murder Club, from which the ABC television drama series is adapted. He has authored books behind six films on the Hollywood fast-track, including the upcoming Maximum Ride movie from Avi Arad, the producer of X-Men and Spiderman. Most recently, New Regency Pictures has optioned The Dangerous Days of Daniel X, James's newest family Pageturner due out in July of 2008. He is the author of novels -- from The Thomas Berryman Number (1976) to Honeymoon (2005) -- that have won awards including the Edgar, the BCA Mystery Guild's Thriller of the Year, the International Thriller of the Year award, and the Reader's Digest Reader's Choice Award. One of Forbes magazine's Celebrity 100, James appeared as a guest star on the popular FOX TV show "The Simpsons" in March, 2007.

Customer Reviews

• Just not up to par...

  Posted December 16, 2008 by Pack Daddy, Portland, Oregon

  I've been a huge fan of Patterson's Alex Cross series for years and count several of the books in the series among my absolute favorites. Cross Country however just isn't up to the standards I've grown accustom to.
  
  The writing is fine, typical Patterson style - no problems there. The main problem here is that the story is both unbelievable and uninteresting - a killer combination to say the least. The "Tiger", the villain this time around, just isn't around enough to develop any sense of dislike. Rather than creating a villan that truly scares you, Patterson instead elects to describe murder after murder without any real sense of terror, dread or urgency whatsoever.
  
  While Cross travels to various locales throughout Africa, I found myself embarking on a quick trip to sleep more often than not. Implausible at its best, downright dull at it's worst, Cross Country is easily the biggest disappointment in the Alex Cross series.

• It was okay

  Posted January 04, 2009 by Matt, Ttown

  Thought that this was an okay book. Plenty of action an excitement, which kept the pages turning for me. The picture of Africa that Patterson paints will stay with me for a while. I was a little disappointed at the end of the novel, but whatever. If your a fan of the Cross novels it's worth reading, but if your new to them you might want to start elsewhere..

• What happened to Alex Cross

  Posted January 09, 2009 by Mike, Lexington

  I was very disappointed in this book. Writing about the plight of Africa is a noble thing but does it truly belong in a action novel. I think that if you read the book you will see that it does not fit well with this character. I had always considered Alex Cross as a man with great intelligence and instinct. The main character in this book seemed to lack intelligence or instinct. Everyone around him seems to get killed. The book spent more time telling us of the plight of Africa and very little time on a good story line. Also the ending to the story seemed to be an afterthought. This book will make me leary of continuing to read Alex Cross.

• Cross Country

  Posted April 26, 2009 by Dolores, Murphysboro

  Loved this book it kept me on the edge of my seat all the time, couldn't put it down.

• Great story!

  Posted September 03, 2009 by Linda, Ijamsville

  Action ,entertainment,a great read. Way to go Patterson!

Additional Info

Imprint

Little Brown & Company

Filesize

1.90 MB

Number of Pages

416

eBook ISBN

9780316040358