Jack & Jill (1996)

My first James Patterson / Alex Cross novel. First, I was put off by the child murder scene but I kept reading. The 2 crime investigations don't really connect and I'm not sure how Alex Cross is so famous to be pulled into the Jack and Jill investigation. But the author pulls it together, and it keeps you reading, especially towards the end.
The child murderer is competing against the reporting by the media covering both cases. I think this is a very current topic, and does connect both storylines after all. Also, the motivation behind the Jack and Jill killings is pretty much current affairs or rather timeless in US history... ( )

Just another James Patterson. Read one, read them all.
I still wondering who came first -- Alex Delaware or Alex Cross? It's too suspicious that both characters are named "Alex" and both characters work with the FBI, police, etc., and both characters have high level degrees in psychology. Alex Delaware could kick Alex Cross' butt, but I think that is because Alex Delaware is written by a better author -- Jonathan Kellerman.

We learn in this novel that Alex Cross is Black, which I did not realize! I do not recall this ever coming up in the other Alex Cross novels and it seems kind of important ... At the very least it differentiate Alex Cross from Alex Delaware, unless Delaware is also Black and I just didn't realize, in which case, that's just pathetic.

Adrianne ( )

A good Patterson thriller.

The third in the Alex Cross series. High profile people in Washington are being murdered by 2 killers calling themselves Jack & Jill. Meanwhile (black) children are being murdered in the lower class neighborhood where Cross lives. The powers that be do not give proper resources to finding the child murderer because Jack & Jill are the hot topic, and they may be going after the President. Alex Cross gets pulled off the child murders to work the Jack & Jill case, but he spends whatever free time he has working the child murders. Through many twists and turns this book keeps you on the edge of your seat. Alex's feelings seem a bit dark and melancholy in this book; but the killer from one of the previous books is still out there stalking Alex and his family, the higher ups in the police department don't seem to care about the brutal murders of young black children, and there may be some type of government/political conspiracy going on that no one can stop.

A fun quick read. I will continue with the series. ( )

I thoroughly enjoy reading about Doctor Detective Alex Cross. James Patterson certainly does not shy away from the gruesome details which is what really makes this a great, shocking mystery.

A murderous duo, who've dubbed themselves Jack and Jill have come to Washington to kill, kill, kill. At the same time, there is an elusive and brutal killing of a young girl In Alex Cross' neck of the woods, and yet all of the attention is focused on the celebrity killings of Jack and Jill, and that certainly doesn't sit will with the newly dubbed Truth School killer. So Alex serves double duty in this installment which follows two cases (which claim to be connected but really aren't which makes the book a tad disjointed).

This book does inspire some real fear because it occasionally alternated POVs to the multiple killers and Alex Cross. I don't read too many of these thriller types, but the idea of seeing things from a psychopath's point of few is something that Patterson does well. ( )

ALEX CROSS