Description
From Publishers Weekly Forensic psychologist Alex Cross's storied career in private practice, with the FBI and as a Washington, D.C., cop has brought him into contact with all kinds of seriously disturbed killers, but his 12th outing from bestseller Patterson (after 2005's Mary, Mary ) may be the ultimate in lunatic deadliness. Beginning with a flashback to the murder of Cross's wife, Maria, Patterson quickly introduces Michael Sullivan (aka the Butcher of Sligo). What follows is a frenetically paced series of brutal rapes and killings by Sullivan, once employed by the mob as a freelancer and now at war with them. Cross juggles being a single parent and being involved in the dangerous game of tracking serial killers until he finally decides to give it up for his family. Needless to say, he's drawn back into the game when it promises a chance of finding Maria's killer. Cross's competence and vulnerability make a stark contrast with Sullivan's sadistic mutilations and psychological manipulations of his victims. Fans know that Cross will survive, but at what cost? (Nov.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the audioCD edition. From AudioFile Dual narration heightens the conflict between Alex Cross, former FBI agent, and Michael Sullivan, "the Butcher of Sligo." Peter Jay Fernandez, the voice of Cross in almost all of Patterson's audios, shows understanding of Alex's humor and foibles, as well as his vulnerability in revisiting the painful death of his first wife and his inability to leave behind his life as a criminal tracker. Jay O. Sanders's cold, ruthless tones portray Sullivan's psychopathic zeal for threatening, killing, and torturing. He also conveys the villains' tensions as he battles childhood demons, urges to hunt new prey, and Mob figures who threaten his family. The appeal of this book comes from the fascinating parallels between these two characters. S.W. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the audioCD edition. James Patterson has had more New York Times bestsellers than any other writer, ever, according to Guinness World Records . Since his first novel won the Edgar Award in 1977 James Patterson's books have sold more than 300 million copies. He is the author of the Alex Cross novels , the most popular detective series of the past twenty-five years, including Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider . He writes full-time and lives in Florida with his family. --This text refers to the audioCD edition. From Booklist Patterson's departure from the nursery-rhyme titles in his latest Alex Cross yarn is a tip-off that the focus this time is not so much on the case as on the man. For the first time in Patterson's 13-year-old series, we relive the day in 1993 when Cross' wife, Maria, was murdered. Alex was a young gun with the D.C. police then, and Maria was a social worker in the poorest and most dangerous section of the city before she became the victim of a drive-by shooting. Cut to the present, and Alex--who has been with the FBI for some time, become a successful crime writer, and started to lose a bit of that "dragon slayer" touch--decides to devote more time to his three kids, much to the delight of Nana Mama, Alex's nonagenarian three-in-one grandmother, nanny, and guiding light. Alex is nothing if not loyal, so when his former partner John Sampson asks him to help track down a sicko who is serially raping Georgetown coeds, Alex cannot say no. Little does he know, however, that the search for the rapist will have ties to Maria's death. That her killer was never found is a constant source of frustration for Alex, and this case offers a chance to finally put Maria's memory to rest. Even as the story whips by with incredible speed, Patterson manages to pack it full of suspense, emotion, and a resolution that, while perfectly satisfying, carries the author's trademark teaser hinting at the "more" that surely will come. Mary Frances Wilkens Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the audioCD edition. Peter Jay Fernandez goes all-out in interpreting James Patterson's troubled hero. Fernandez wrenches emotion out of every scene, even when he's portraying Cross's tough-as-nails grandmother, an elderly black woman. He's made even better by the addition of narrator Jay O, Sanders in several roles, including the cold-as-ice-villain, " The Butcher". ( Audio File 2006) --Audio File --This text refers to the audioCD edition. Read more
Features & Highlights
- The pinnacle of all Alex Cross thrillers is now available as a value-priced audiobook! Alex Cross was a rising star in the Washington, DC, Police Department when an unknown shooter gunned down his wife, Maria, in front of him. The killer was never found, and the case turned cold, filed among the unsolved drive-bys in D.C.'s rough neighborhoods.Years later, still haunted by his wife's death, Cross is making a bold move in his life. Now a free agent from the police and the FBI, he's set up practice as a psychologist once again. His life with Nana Mama, Damon, Jannie, and little Alex is finally getting in order. He even has a chance at a new love. Then Cross's former partner, John Sampson, calls in a favor. He is tracking a serial rapist in Georgetown, one whose brutal modus operandi recalls a case Sampson and Cross worked together years earlier. When the case reveals a connection to Maria's death, Cross latches on for the most urgent and terrifying ride of his life.
