The main plot is not only never solved, the reader is dropped off just as Alex is in the worst position imaginable and actually, this plot is also not believable. This author has lost me and many others who will never pick up his books again. Not one penny of my money will ever go to him again. There are too many good books out there to waste time on this. Aug 27, Julia Ibbotson rated it it was ok. I have loved this series and others by James Patterson but I don't think I will be reading any more. The ending was abrupt and there was no resolution as you should expect in a thriller; it just petered out.
I like novels which leave questions at the end food for thought but this was simply badly written. It also had Cross implying the culprit was someone whom we know did not do it, so it was all very odd. I assume that this is a technique to get readers to buy the nex What a disappointment. I assume that this is a technique to get readers to buy the next in the series where presumably we find out what actually happened. But sadly, I won't be one of them.
I also feel that the Cross family was an excellent narrative creation to provide a counter-point to the horrendous parts of Alex's job: But now there is no such contrast, as Cross's family and background have been written as merging totally with the criminal and insane! At the same time, Alex and Bree are trying to track down Ava, the troubled teen who has recently run away from their home. And unbeknownst to Alex and Bree, a ruthless murderer is targeting their family. I find I have been disappointed in these books for quite a while, but I hold out hope because they were so good in the beginning.
I hated that this had a non-ending. I like that typically a mystery wraps up in one book and then we move on to something else. However, I also think that things go too easily for Alex Cross, and I find it hard to believe that his entire family would still be alive while all these "brilliant criminals" are trying to hurt him. Kiss the Girls and Roses are Red were two I find I have been disappointed in these books for quite a while, but I hold out hope because they were so good in the beginning.
Kiss the Girls and Roses are Red were two fantastic novels in this series, but the last eight have been mediocre? There are too many damn books in this series. And not enough of them worth it. Does that mean I will stop? No, apparently I am a glutton for punishment and have to know how it ends. I have invested too much time to stop now. Damn you, James Patterson. View all 3 comments. Nov 22, Sojourner rated it it was amazing Shelves: There is something to the fictional Cross family — you feel deeply attached.
James Patterson leaves no stone unturned to pull out all the stops to keep you absorbed throughout the book. Having lost both his parents before he was eleven, Alex Cross cherishes his family above all else: Alex has always been a loving husband and father and a dedicated police detective. It is also about Marcus Sunday, a man who theorizes the philosophical world-view of a perfect killer in his book The Perfect Criminal. Alex, his wife Bree, and the FBI have been involved in an investigation of a recent spate of murders. As usual, Alex writes about the murders in a publication, drawing the wrath of the killer who decides to tear his family apart and make him suffer.
The people who are most dear to him are threatened by a madman obsessed with proving Alex wrong. His conviction and his love is about to be put to the test. With a madman fanatical with being the perfect criminal on the stalk, can Alex Cross crack the most important case of his career and protect his family? This time, the criminal is in control, bent on making Alex dance to his tunes.
Its twists and turns make it difficult to put the book down. You may love or hate it but Cross My Heart is unlike anything you have read before. Although I admit that I have bought into the increasingly far-fetched exploits of the story that is Alex Cross's life, this is too much. The series that started with so much promise with Along Came A Spider, has become a farce.
Alex is being stalked by Thierry Mulch, a man who calls himself an existentialist. Mulch is a super-villain psychopath who wants to make Cross suffer just because he can. He plans the abduction and murder of Cross's entire family through the book, while Alex and his wife, Although I admit that I have bought into the increasingly far-fetched exploits of the story that is Alex Cross's life, this is too much. He plans the abduction and murder of Cross's entire family through the book, while Alex and his wife, Bree track down and capture another mass murderer.
The ending of this novel is pathetic, but read it if you must and find out for yourself. I have followed Alex Cross for many years. I have read approximately 1. Dec 16, James Elliot Leighton rated it did not like it. This is NOT a book. It is junk mail advertising an as yet unwritten book. It is frustrating and annoying. I will not look at anything from James Patterson again - he has jumped the shark as they say - he has become a con-man. The arrogant disregard with which he treats his fan base is unbelievable, and it is going to shoot him in the foot.
I will certainly take every opportunity to disparage him if his name comes up - as will many others if these reviews are any indication. Nov 21, Jon Kurtz rated it really liked it. James Patterson's machine gun style is exciting and easy to read.
Cross My Heart
Short chapters, cliff hanger endings, and familiar characters succeed in grabbing and holding the reader's interest. Though a strength to a point, the familiarity of the characters has become a weakness in this series.
So, to summarize the basis for the four stars, I love Patterson's James Patterson's machine gun style is exciting and easy to read. So, to summarize the basis for the four stars, I love Patterson's writing style, but find the premise tired and unrealistic. I struggled between 3 or 4 stars, but chose the higher rating simply for the book's entertainment value.
View all 4 comments. Dec 01, J rated it it was amazing. I notice that people either loved or hated Patterson's latest Alex Cross novel. This is likely to do with the cliffhanger ending that leaves you wanting more from the mindtwisting story that you were just enveloped in.
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I think the very fact that people are so mad at the lack of an ending in this volume is a testament to how good this book is. I guess we'll have to wait until his next volume of the Alex Cross series and I for one will definitely be getting it. One man knows this deeply, and uses Alex's strength as a weapon against him. The stakes are higher than ever as James Patterson delivers one of the more personal entries in this saga so far.
Marcus Sunday is keeping a watchful eye on all of the Cross family, and waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Another great book by James Patterson, but I was a little disappointed about the ending. This leads me to believe that the next Alex Cross book is going to be the bomb!! I highly recommend this book to all JP fans. View all 7 comments. Nov 03, Marla rated it really liked it. I'm thinking the people who are complaining about this book haven't read all the Alex Cross books.
This is book 21 in the series. I have read every one of them and I always can't wait to visit with Alex Cross. I'm always sad to see him leave at the end of a book.
I don't see this book as a prequel or not complete. I see it as a continuation in the life of Alex Cross. Just as Ava is a continued story from the previous book. So what that James Patterson wanted to continue this storyline into the I'm thinking the people who are complaining about this book haven't read all the Alex Cross books. So what that James Patterson wanted to continue this storyline into the next book.
He probably felt there was more to tell without making this book 1, pages. So I look forward to book As always this book kept me guessing who people are. Kept me wondering what was going to happen and made me wonder do homicide detective really have that busy of a life? I'm looking forward to the next book. Dec 22, Cindy rated it did not like it. I am extremely disappointed. Patterson ripped us off with this one.
His approach has become very tedious. It is clear to me he is in this purely for the money now. Which is fine, no one would ever claim that a James Patterson book is high literature. Authors work for money not charity It is the blatant approach to sell more books and the complete disregard for his readers I find so disturbing.
He attempts to elevate his tactics by stating "it had to be done to be true to the charact I am extremely disappointed. He attempts to elevate his tactics by stating "it had to be done to be true to the character and to himself". I read this as "I am really bored with writing, I do not want to put effort into my work any more and I bet I can sell more books by only releasing half a book at a time. Insert zombie references throughout, insert over the top, barely fleshed-out 'physcos' with obscene violence and the book will sell.
I am sure it will. Oct 29, Kimberley Baker rated it it was amazing. Then I read the latest novel and get blown away Entirely gripping the entire way through-I found it difficult to put the book down at all. The twists and turns had be on the edge of my seat. I loved the Cross family, like usual, and I liked the villains. Nov 13, Suncoast rated it it was ok. When an author has written 20 books in a successful series they feel they need to do something different to keep the series alive.
This time James Patterson decided to turn the tables on Alex Cross and have a killer hunting him instead of Cross hunting a killer. Thierry Mulch not his real name is a psychopathic serial killer with chameleon style abilities who believes he has committed some perfect crimes and got away with them. To bolster his enormous ego he even participates in disguise in U When an author has written 20 books in a successful series they feel they need to do something different to keep the series alive.
To bolster his enormous ego he even participates in disguise in University seminars that discuss the crimes.
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Mulch's ego is hurt that Detective Dr Alex Cross has never given up trying to solve the crimes - so hurt that he decides to hunt down Cross and his family, like a predator priming himself for the kill. This is a very explicit book with a lot of unnecessary and extreme psychopathic violence which is not for everyone. I can understand why Patterson decided to up the ante and turn the tables to keep the series alive but as far as I am concerned the author made a vital tactical mistake by leaving the story open with a cliffhanger death-hanger?
Of course this will leave his fans anxiously awaiting his next book in the series - but not me.
Cross My Heart (novel) - Wikipedia
This book was published in Australia on 7 November but surprisingly won't be released in the US until 25 November. Dec 01, Kathy rated it it was ok. What is with all this "tech no" nonsense? I have always enjoyed the Alex Cross books but after this irrationality; I think I am done. Maybe he is gearing his writinga toward a younger audience with mention of zoombies, and tech no situations which are not fully defined. By the end of the book, I didn't much care if the family lived or died. Dec 03, Jeanne Ledden rated it did not like it.
This book is by far the rawest and edgiest of the Alex Cross series. Without doing a spoiler alert, I will just say that the ending was anything but satisfactory and this appears to be an attempt on Patterson's part to drum up more revenue. The Alex Cross series was my favorite one - I think that this will not be the case anymore. Jul 31, Milt Jacobs rated it really liked it. Cliff hanger ending that you have to buy the next book to see how it turns out. How can Patterson do this to me? Loved this book and ending on a cliffhanger I am jumping right into the next book!
May 24, Matt Lohr rated it it was ok.
I like to think of myself as not overly snobbish when it comes to reading material. Though my own reading tends almost overwhelmingly towards non-fiction, with occasional classics thrown in, I can enjoy a well-written pulp thriller, mystery, or paperback western. And that "well-written" is the key.
I know James Patterson is the best-selling author of my lifetime, and I know many millions of people swear by his books my own mother loaned me "Cross My Heart," my first Patterson, to read. But I s I like to think of myself as not overly snobbish when it comes to reading material. But I spent much of my time reading this reflecting on P. Barnum's famous dictum that no one ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public.
It's not just that the story, in which police psychologist Alex Cross is targeted for torment by a brilliant and insane killer who turns his assault on the detective into a sort of game yep, that old gag , has been done to almost literal death over the years.
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It's that Patterson doesn't even execute it with any particular imagination and flair. Despite a handful of vivid moments of gore, and one genuinely shocking scene which Patterson quickly undercuts just a few chapters later , the book relies on cheap titillation and gross-outs for its effects.
Cross and his family are too cookie-cutter nicey-nicey to be interesting in the slightest, and I struggle, as I think back on the book, to remember a single interesting line of dialogue. Few cliches of this genre and character type are left unturned; at one point, Cross literally asks a captured psychopath, with complete sincerity, "Tell me about your mother.
The passages where Cross is being stalked, or we see action he doesn't, are written in third person, while every scene featuring cross is written from his first-person POV. It's just awkward, weak prose. You can't even given him the benefit of the doubt by saying he's "going for something. If you want to create the illusion that you're reading a novel, this is a way to do it. I mean, it must be a serious book, right? After all, it has so many chapters and never mind that the longest one in the book is, I think, seven pages. Alex Cross has been a family man at heart — he loves his children, his grandmother, and his beautiful wife Brianna.
Alex Cross has managed to stop serial killers and survive. But all of that is about to change. When a new enemy targets Cross and his family, Cross finds himself in a whole new game. If he tries to save his family or stop the killer, they die. Can Alex protect his family and capture a criminal at the same time?
The novel was scheduled to be released in November 25, in hardcover and audio book, with the paperback to be presumably released in The novel has received mostly positive reviews. Author of the Jack Reacher series, Lee Child , has given the novel a positive review, stating that "Behind all the noise and numbers, we shouldn't forget that no one gets this big without natural storytelling talent--which is what James Patterson has, in spades. The Alex Cross series proves that.