Review: The People vs. Alex Cross

The People vs. Alex Cross by James Patterson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5 stars. This book picks up where the preceding Book Shot, "Detective Cross," left off. A few months have passed and Alex's murder trial is fast approaching. In the meantime, he has returned to his first professional love: counseling. He's quite content with this choice until former partner and lifelong best friend John Sampson comes to Alex with a case as John and his new partner aren't really jiving: young women are disappearing and are appearing to be killed in snuff films with the only thing they seemingly have in common is that they are all blonde.

As always, this was another fast paced novel with multiple story arcs happening. The trial was more in the background than I would have thought it to be, with Alex sneaking around (he is suspended, after all!) to help John solve the missing women case the more focal story line. But when has Alex ever been able to walk away from a case?

The trial had me wondering if Alex would be found guilty at times, even with knowing this is not the last book in the series, though it crossed my mind that the series could continue with Bree as the main character while Alex languishes in prison. I found it more than a bit unlikely that the turning point in the trial came from a discovery made by Alex's nine year old that the professionals missed. But, this series is fiction and while I enjoy the books, I don't expect them to be literary masterpieces.

Overall, another solid book in the series but after 25 books, it is starting to feel like there isn't much more that can be done with this character.

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