Alex Cross was originally published as Cross, but has been recently reissued to tie-in with the movie of the same name. It is number twelve in the 20 books series, and so I find the characters at an earlier place than previously reviewed Cross Fire.
It begins with a flashback; Alex tells of his pregnant wife Maria, and how she was shot by an unknown killer, who he assumes is a mob hit man Michael Sullivan, aka The Butcher. Forward to 2005, with Alex leaving the force for private practice. He sets up an office and begins taking clients. Meanwhile, crazy Michael Sullivan continues to do hits for the mob, and has a side hobby of terrorizing young women. Alex begins to investigate the rape and murder cases in DC, and quickly returns to his detective work against the wishes of Nana Mama and his children. This villain isn't a cunning, cold hit man, but more of an overgrown immature teenager who does it all for kicks. He soon realizes he has been set up by his mob bosses, and starts to eliminate them as well. The plot flips back and forth between his family life, his detective work, his private practice and the rampage of Michael Sullivan.
This has a very different tone than the later Cross Fire. I can see why they picked this as the novel to base the movie on. The action is more graphic, the hero disillusioned, and the maniacal sociopathic killer just a little over the top. The Butcher is ruthless, running around with his scalpel and taking pictures of his victims with a Polaroid (I guess you could still find Instamatic film?) and the novel is packed with action.
I was glad to read the lighter, character driven Cross Fire first. There is more with his partner John Sampson in this novel, played by Ed Burns in the film. I liked his character as well, and I can see how any of these could be spun off into headlining their own novels. Sampson does tell Alex in the end what really happened to Maria and how he dealt with it. The Michael Sullivan story is also wrapped up nicely. His grandmother Nana Mama has some great scenes as she attempts to put her foot down with Alex rejoining the force.
In his spare time, Alex sits down to watch The Diary Of A Mad Black Woman, which is funny with the star of Diary Tyler Perry playing Alex in the movie.
This is a solid entry in the series and I'd recommend it if you like action and thrills.
2008 / Paperback / 416 pages
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