I always enjoy James Patterson's books, especially the Alex Cross series. I love those short chapters. I really feel as though the book is flying by. While I liked The Big Bad Wolf, I didn't love it, primarily because of the Russian underworld bits. This is more about my personal preferences than the novel itself. The re-introduction of Christine and the chapters focused on Alex's family more than made up for it. The mystery was face-paced but the ending wasn't all I had hoped. A solid, but not spectacular, Alex Cross novel. ( )

Big and unbelievable changes for Alex Cross. As usual whenever Patterson introduces a new protagonist for Cross you don't learn who it is until 2 or more books later.

Glad to see Cross move over to the FBI side of things, but so far that aspect has been very unbelievable.

Here's hoping the next installment is better. ( )

The next installment of the Alex Cross series, continues to develop and continuing with previous storylines, bringing Alex Cross more to life than ever before. This time around Alex is starting his new adventure in the workforce, facing corporate pressures and family struggles, while remembering that he may never be out of danger.

Alex is on the hunt for an unknown group of men who apparently selling and buying white women into sexual slavery. Meanwhile, a surprise visitor rocks Alex’s world like never before.

I’m starting to enjoy the series more and more, and look forward to the next edition, leading up to the latest release, Alex Cross’s Trial.

The first Alex Cross I've read where he joins the FBI. He hasn't completed his induction before he's chasing the Wolf, a vicious Russian Mafia figure responsible for the kidnap of a number of women. Good plotting keeps you turning the pages until the end. ( )

James Patterson is responsible for many wonderful tales, both in his Alex Cross series and in his other novels. Though this book is utterly readable and absorbing, with its short chapters (you think - I'll just read one more - and before you know it you've finished the whole thing,) and quick twists in plot, I didn't feel that this was his best work. This is mostly due to the ending.

Whether you've read any of Patterson's Alex Cross novels before doesn't matter; these are easy to get into, any background required is summarised in a way that enlightens the novice without boring the expert. Essentially, the biggest difference in this novel is that Alex has been promoted from detective to FBI and is struggling with the paperwork and politics this involves. While trying to complete his FBI induction, he is already put on a case - or is he? Alex is quickly annoyed by the lack of information he receives when he isn't currently required. Furthermore, in a secondary plotline, his family hits a crisis point when his ex-fiance appears back in his life and demands her rights to their child.

The case itself is a white slave trading ring, in which rich and beautiful women (and men) are kidnapped to order. The operation seems to be run by a Russian mobster called The Wolf, who wishes to assert his prowess as top gangster, and is quite fond of a practise he calls Zamochit. His henchmen soon start being destroyed or captured and his plot unravels - or does it? As usual in Patterson, the main villain is decidedly not stupid, and it's catching him that will be the biggest problem for the FBI. Also as typical in Patterson, there are a couple of his 'happy moments' in which victims are recovered, so it isn't all death and doom.

Alex is easy to empathise with as he struggles to adjust to these changes, but that doesn't mean you spend your time pitying him. He is a very active character, whose ideas encourage you to play detective with him.

My specific complaints about this book come at the end, which without disclosing what that is, I should like to note that it was disappointing and seemed clearly designed to allow Patterson an easy link to another Alex Cross novel.

Regardless, the novel is fast-paced, occasionally funny, something enjoyable without being demanding. Some of the most thrilling moments, and there are some, as in all his novels, come from the realisation of just who has done what, as the most shocking yet believable realisations connect supposedly innocent people with appalling crimes.

Worth a read, but definitely in the paperback, as you will probably finish the book in a few hours, or at most a few days, and it won't feel worth £18 odd quid! ( )