by James Patterson
Double Cross is a recent book in a long-running series of thrillers featuring the forensic profiler Alex Cross. Two of the earlier books, Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider have been made into films, featuring Morgan Freeman in the lead role.
This latest one sees Cross pitted against his old enemy Kyle Craig, as well as another new and ruthless criminal called the Audience Killer.
The pace seems relentless at times. I say seems relentless because Patterson writes in very short chapters, one of his trademarks. As a result of this, I found the book too easy to pick up and put down, despite the fast-moving story. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but it did lose some of its grip on me.
I'm sure newcomers to the series will enjoy this book; it's a powerful thriller with many twists and turns. My problem is that I'm getting used to them and I felt that Patterson is now churning them out according to a formula, albeit a winning one in terms of book sales. The criminals were suitably extreme and shocking, well drawn characters but I felt that Alex Cross and the other good guys were somewhat bored with the whole thing.
Double Cross is available from Headline, ISBN 978-0-7553-4941-8.
Reviewed by Captain Black
