Customer Reviews

Double Cross

5 star:		(79)
4 star:		(45)
3 star:		(41)
2 star:		(35)
1 star:		(41)

 

 

I have read so many JP books, so I come in expecting a vacation from reality. But this book? Come on...

How can Alex and his partner be thinking about making love (like two immature teenagers) every 15 minutes when there are two crazy killers out there WHO HAVE BOTH THREATENED HIM, HIS FAMILY AND HER??! They travel to Montana and are upset they don't have time to "do it", while back in DC there are TWO killers wreaking havoc?

How was big tough Samson "kidnapped"?

As soon as this guy escaped prison, (which in itself was so impossible...) why weren't the judge and Alex's family relocated? The judge is home sleeping -- with her family -- peacefully, while this mad man lurks the streets? (And tell me, please, how was he able to go to Paris? He had passports made prior to his conviction, just incase?)

And because Nana wouldn't WANT to leave the house Alex just leaves his whole family there unprotected?

The end, while in the alleyway with both of them, is so dumb!

I could go on for hours like this, but suffice it to say, you cannot/will not get scared, be in suspense or care about all the grisly deaths in this book! In fact, you will laugh at the absurdity of it!

(Note: this review contains minor spoilers.)

I received this book by accident from BOMC, as I did not respond in time to my monthly selection. It had been a long time since I read one of James Patterson's novels, so I decided to go ahead and give this one a try. Initially, it was a rapid page-turner, with one dramatic scene following quickly on the heels of another. But about a third of the way through, I just stopped, no longer intrigued, as I discovered that these bite-size chapters - 126 in a 300-page book - were just that, authorial cop-outs which allowed him to spoon-feed drama to the reader without actually earning suspense, intrigue, or suspension of disbelief.

If you ran the text together, removing the half-page graphic that begins, and the empty space that ends, each chapter, this story would take up probably no more than 150 pages. In those few pages, Patterson introduces us to 35 speaking characters identified by their first and last names, three killers and their ten alternate identities, and one copycat killer. Fifteen adults (and one foetus) are killed, their murders described in moderate detail (as much as a one-to-two page chapter allows, anyway). Patterson also follows a number of characters as they fly to such far-flung locations as Washington, DC, Florence, Colorado, Kalispell, Montana, and even Paris, France, traversing the globe as quickly and easily as if they were hopping on BART or the MTA.

What Patterson DOESN'T describe is how his various killers gain access to a number of the victims, some of whom are FBI agents highly trained in the art of self defense. Or how they get away from the scene of such crimes, especially when they are committed for maximum spectatorship. Or how the guards in a maximum-security prison handling a criminal the equivalent of Ted Bundy in notoriety and body count could be fooled by a change of clothing and a latex mask. Or how that same killer, with a nationwide APB warrant out for his arrest, can hop a plane to Europe. Nor does Patterson describe much in the way of character development - the only person in the whole book who seems to grow at all is protagonist Alex Cross' son Damon, an extremely ancillary character who gets all of one and a half chapters in the whole book.

And therein lies the double-edged sword of Double Cross: while the extremely short chapters allow Patterson to move the story quickly, they also act as a crutch, allowing him to cheat the hard stuff (as Misery's Annie Wilkes, who knows all about the miracle rescues and impossible escapes from the black and white serials of the fifties, would say, he's a "dirty bird!"). Don't know how to get a character from A to B believably? Use a chapter break! Don't know how to reconcile known police procedures with letting a criminal escape detection? Use a chapter break! Don't know how to plausibly get a young, virile, Quantico-trained FBI agent into the clutches of a known killer? Use a chapter break! While the format initially adds to the excitement of the read, it ultimately allows Patterson to cheat the reader, diminishing the overall experience.

While this is certainly not the worst book I've read in years, it's one of the weakest, most derivative of the Alex Cross novels, and of Patterson's work in general. The use of two sets of serial killers does not add much in the way of drama - the killer Kyle Craig does not actually target Cross or anyone known to Cross until the very end of the book, and when he finally does, it is not to kill Cross but to warn him. It feels more like a contrivance in order to fit the title than a well-considered plot device. The sudden love affair with new character Detective Bree Stone also seems manufactured and artificial. In fact, her character seems to exist only to get Cross involved in the case; though he describes Stone, a veteran of the MPD, a full detective, and lead on the investigation, as "poised," "competent," "a pro," and "good at [her job]," it is Cross himself who directs the forensics teams, makes most of the connections and breaks, rescues Stone from reporters' questions during a press conference, and ultimately solves the case. And the way Cross just waltzes into the main investigation of the story in the first place, without ever formally being hired, re-inducted, or contracted, never sits right with me - surely you can't just walk into a live, taped-off crime scene as a civilian with no current ties to the police or FBI? Add to that some weak editing ("...photographs...of...Bree, Sampson, and I," "Who was I trying to kid?," "Kyle Craig had hung himself!," etc.), re-hashed and implausible plotting, and unnatural-sounding dialogue towards the end, and you have yourself what appears to be a phoned-in performance by Patterson running on fumes (and perhaps needing to put braces on the grandkids, or the mortgage for a fifth house).

I have definitely enjoyed other, better books by Mr. Patterson, and have read far worse fiction than Double Cross in the recent past, but would advise anyone tempted to pick this one up to borrow it from the library first, or spend the three hours it'll take to read it with a "free" copy in the aisles of Barnes & Noble - it's just not a keeper.

An Alex Cross mystery used to be something to look forward to, but suddenly the last two ("Cross") both miss by too much.

This one starts off like gangbusters and then crashes and burns too soon. Too many plot devices are overused and underdeveloped and stale characters - besides Alex - just didn't work.

A Jail break just too ludicrous to be believable, and disguises that ae just pulled out of nowhere just to get from one scene to another all add to a sad effort in the end.

I've said it before about Patterson's books, but it bares repeating - there are just too many too fast to be well thought out and well written to the standards that the first dozen or more were.

Sorry, but even though it can be read in a single sitting, it just may not be worth the time.

The usual good, fast, reliably fun read from Mr. Patterson. "Double Cross" loses a few points compared to the last couple of Alex Cross thrillers ("Mary, Mary" and "Cross") due to its shifting back a little to the unrealistically relentless "Big Bad Wolf"/"London Bridges" days of a major disaster every chapter, endless running around, and over-the-top action taking precedence over genuine character moments. But at least "Double Cross" is about Alex Cross chasing serial killers, not James Bond-style villains, and there's still a fair amount of Alex's family and personal life on tap, if less than the last two books.

The book also pulls off an effective balancing act: it leaves a few plot elements unresolved to make you want to pick up the next book, but gives you enough satisfying resolution so that those as-yet-unresolved elements will tantalize instead of frustrate you.

Quibbles aside, I got my money's worth from "Double Cross"

Here is yet another psycho-mass murderer for Cross, plus the reprise of a previous psycho--two for the price of one. Unfortunately there is nothing new here at all. It's all a formula. Invent a killer with nasty ways of killing. Have him keep murdering until the proper number of pages are filled, and mail it in to the publisher. Voila, an instant best seller.

There are a couple of rather heavy-handed bedroom sequences, nothing to excite the libido, just the usual. The hero's love interests tend not to live long. The plot is soggy as a wet saltine. The characters are one-dimensional. The atmosphere is nothing very realistic.

So why do James Patterson books sell so well? The chapers are very short, just glimpses at the story, which makes a Patterson book a fast read. There's lots of gore and violence and sadism, with a little sex and a couple of cute kids. That's about it.

The quality of Patterson's work has dropped dramatically over the last couple of years, and with this one I think he's jumped the shark.

I could not believe this was the work of a professional author. It seems more like the first effort of a junior high student.

The plot is trite, the characters cartoonish and the prose is amateurish.

I am sorry to say that this is the first time I had to put down a book in disgust, unfinished.

Frankly, I don't care how this book ends- I've already lost an hour of my life that I will never get back while reading the first 100-odd pages.

Mr. Patterson has written a large number of very good stories. A great American author. However he started down a very slippery slope when he began to co-author his work. Perhaps he has lost his mo-jo and it shows. His character Dr. Cross is a one who pulls in interest and concern, but the story line in this book does not support this. Most unfortunate. This my last Patterson read.

Non-suspenseful Thriller

A pulp fiction, non-suspenseful, shallow thriller sums up Mr. Patterson's latest Alex Cross adventure in Double Cross. Although Dentist waiting room entertaining, predictability cursed this latest Alex Cross installment. From beginning to end, one had a sense of where this novel was going way before it got there. Not good for a suspense thriller. Mr. Patterson's tirelessness churning out of superficial non-thrillers is beginning to fatigue this reader. To borrow an old ad term, Mr. Patterson "Where's the Beef?" In earlier Patterson novels there was more depth and character development. Not so today. His characters are almost cartoonish and the plot an example of "cookie cutter", mass audience, installment fiction writing. I feel like at times I am reading an old Buck Rodgers weekly Saturday matinee serial. Enough already Mr. Patterson, get back to your roots and earlier suspenseful thrillers. Stop with the 2 page chapters, no character development, hackneyed plots, and weak characters. Give us the old Patterson depth of characters and plot, and enough with the shallow, non-suspenseful pulp thrillers: Please.

Character development - Very Little.

No gratuitous language, sex, or violence. Actually not much action either.

Recommend waiting for the paperback or checkout the hardback from the library. An extremely quick read: Can easily be done on a Transcon flight from Los Angeles to New York or a long day at the beach. Overall weak to mediocre read. This is my last James Patterson novel.

Let me first say that I am usually a big James Patterson fan. Judge & Jury, Lifeguard, and The Quickie were much, much better than this, simply because of the plot developments and unexpected twists. This novel can essentially be summed up by the following outline.

Murder

Detectives are clueless

Murder

Detectives continue to be clueless

Murder

Detectives still have absolutely no leads and keep talking about how they have no leads

Murder

Detectives get an obscure lead that turns out to essentially be crap

Detectives are captured themselves

Detectives escape, capture one bad guy, allow the other bad guy to escape.

THE END

What turned me off about this book that usually keeps me going in the other novels is the lack of plot and suspense. The fact that the detectives have no leads or clues at all for about 90% of the book just leaves me bored! For something like that, Judge & Jury is definitely the way to go, a 5-Star!

Thanks for reading my review!

This book was so poorly written that I feel cheated. James Patterson just basically threw down an outline for a book and called it a story. Does he not have to work hard at it anymore since he is rich and famous? There is no character development...and no real "meat" to the story line....we dont get to really know the characters so that we can hate them (or love them)...and the crime scenes are so empty.....no lead up....no accounting for how the killer could get the victim and how the crime occurred...just a simple line that "she was thrown over with her throat cut"....and the connections between people dont make a lot of sense....just sad sad sad piece of literary work