Cross Country is the fourteenth novel in the Alex Cross series written by James Patterson. The previous volumes in the Alex Cross series were extremely plot heavy, desperately lacking in description and, I feel, poorly written. All set in the capital of Washington DC, Patterson's Alex Cross series seemed to stick rather religiously to a formula in every book: Murder in the DC, Murder in DC, maybe a rape in DC and fuck it, throw in another couple of murders.

In this installment however, the story begins in Washington DC with yes, a murder. But a murder of a family of five, who incidently, the mother of the family and key victim of the murder happens to be an ex-girlfriend of Alex Cross. One of his many ex-girlfriends may I say. Alex feels this case is very personal, and intends to never drop this case until he catches the killer of Ellie Cox.
This is when it gets good, Cross tracks the killer and his gang to Africa. In search of information Cross gets kidnapped about four times, into about six firefights and manages to survive. When he learns there is more to this 'Tiger' killer than he first thought, Alex finds himself and possibly his entire family in grave danger...

Yes, I rated it four of five stars. Four because I thought it was better than the rest of the James Patterson books I've read and the plot was a lot more entertaining, plus a lot more descriptive, extreme events which get the heart pumping to the max! However, not rated five stars as I thought the happenings of the story were a little far-fetched and a lottle (yes lottle, not little) absurd.
Another thing that pissed me off was that Alex Cross got yet another ladie admirer, this time in the shape of African reporter, Adanne Tansi. In the beginning of the book, Alex s involved with a colleague called Bree and seems to like her a lot, yet becomes rather fond of this Adanne character and does not think for one minute of Bree whilst he is kissing Adanne. I think this Adanne bitch should have just got cut from the novel completely, at least she got domed at the end by the Tiger.

I read this book realllllly quickly. It was 406 pages long, quite the average amount for any book, but what really annoyed me was how uneccisarily short each chapter was. Each chapter was at the most three pages and averagely about one page and three-quarters. A lot of the chapters could easily have been made into one. Like three chapters could have been put into one easily without it affecting the flow of the story. If Patterson really did need to chapter that excessively then why didn't he just use an asterisk (*)?

Although, despite the irritating layout I loved the plot of this book, it had a lot more action than the other.
James Patterson, you've finally done it, you've created a book I actually really did enjoy reading. Well done!! Oh and if you're reading this review go and read this book...it's really good by the way, only takes a day or two to read. ( )

2008 ( )

As if Alex Cross’s life couldn’t get more difficult just as he’s decided to start solving crimes again, a series of brutal murders, worse than anything he’s ever seen, becomes person and forces Alex Cross to sacrifice more than any other time.

Entire families are being killed, not only in the states but in other countries, and they all like to the Tiger, the more ruthless killer. Alex decides it’s his responsibility to travel across the world to try and catch the killer, but he appears to be the only one who really wants to be there. All authority wants Alex out of the country and going home, but not before he almost loses his life a half a dozen times.

Back home, Alex finds his worse nightmares are starting to come true and has to dig deep to find the truth behind the Tiger.

More social commentary than detection. The chase spans continents, but the plot doesn't span the book. ( )

Cross Country is a good book for those looking for adventure. However, if you are looking for a believable read, this book is not for you. The book is packed full of adventure (no matter that the adventures/events are totally unbelievable) that keeps the reader interested until the end. I will not give a synopsis of the book here, as I fear I may spoil the plot. You must read to find out more about Alex Cross and the adventures he faces. ( )