Hope to Die: (Alex Cross 22)

Product Information

Gary Soneji, a dying prison escapee, is looking for revenge on Cross, while another insane killer is pursued by Thomas Augustine Pierce-a brilliant and relentless detective who may even be better than Cross. In a race against time, he must defeat Mulch, and find his wife and children - no matter what it takes. Alex Cross is a hero for our time, and never more so than in this story of family, action, and the deepest moral choices. I don’t tend to read any of the Paterson/any other novelist co-authored books as they don’t appeal to me as much and I don’t hear as much positive feedback. Alex soon realizes he may have much to answer for, as "M" lures the detective out of the capital to the sites of multiple homicides, all marked with distressingly familiar details -- details that conjure up decades-old cases.

Cross is being stalked and mentally tortured by someone who clearly has a psychotic streak; early on, as two mutilated bodies turn up that are presumed to be Cross's wife Bree and his son Damion, Cross is so emotionally devastated that he's barely able to function.

When a string of young, blonde women go missing, the investigation leads Cross and Sampson to the most depraved, darkest corners of the internet, where murder is just another form of entertainment. But even with everything on the line, Cross will do whatever it takes to stop a dangerous criminal . The murder of a glamorous DC socialite becomes Alex Cross’s deadliest case since Along Came a Spider. In a Virginia penitentiary, Alex Cross and his partner, John Sampson, witness the execution of a killer they helped convict. It was good, but the cliffhanger of an ending, as I said at the time, so reeked of promotion for this one that I almost vowed on principle not to read the follow-up.

When he arrives in Eudora, Mississippi, Ben meets the wise Abraham Cross and his beautiful granddaughter, Moody. The harder the investigators push, the more resistance they find when they leave behind the polite law offices and doctors' quarters of the state capital.House Cross finds itself back at square one, the same idyllic, perfect-world family whose problems always manage to wrap themselves up by the end of four hundred pages. Driven by feelings of hatred and revenge, Mulch is threatening to kill them all, and break Cross for ever. Chances are if you’re a Patterson fan you’ll have read this one already and if not you’re not going to read it, but on the whole, the book still remains an enjoyable read and as usual with this series, a super quick one. Twenty years ago, I wrote, ' Along Came a Spider is the best thriller I've come across in many a year. But the “danger to loved ones due to his profession” card, taken to the extreme in this installment, has been rather overplayed in this series and really is getting a bit tired.

The psychotic and evil Thierry Mulch had kidnapped Detective Alex Cross’ entire family – his beautiful wife Bree, Nana Mama and the children, Damon, Jannie and Ali had all been taken from Cross. Alex Cross is simply superb, as always, and the pain he feels comes right through the pages of the book. This has led to him forming a partnership with the National Literacy Trust, an independent, UK-based charity that changes lives through literacy. As the diplomat engages in a brilliant series of surprising countermoves, in and out of the courtroom, Alex and his fiancée become hopelessly entangled with the most memorable nemesis Alex Cross has ever faced.

One man knows this deeply, and uses Alex's strength as a weapon against him in the most unsettling and unexpected novel of James Patterson's career.