Short & Sweet Review: Deadly Cross by James Patterson

Title: Deadly Cross
Author: James Patterson
Series: Alex Cross, #28
Published: November 2020, Little, Brown & Company
Format: Hardcover, 416 pages
Source: Personal copy

Summary: 

A scandalous double homicide in the nation's capital opens the psychological case files on . . . Detective Alex Cross.  

 

Until Kay Willingham's shocking murder inside a luxury limousine, the Georgetown socialite, philanthropist, and ex-wife of the sitting vice-president led a public life. Yet few -- including her onetime psychologist -- had any inkling of Kay's troubled past in the Deep South.

Murdered alongside her is Randall Christopher, a respected educator whose political ambitions may have endangered both their lives. While John Sampson of DC Metro Police tracks Randall's final movements, Alex Cross and FBI Special Agent Ned Mahoney travel to Alabama to investigate Kay's early years. 

 

They discover that although Kay had many enemies, all of them needed her alive. Alex is left without a viable suspect, and facing a desperate choice between breaking a trust and losing his way -- as a detective, and as the protector of his family.

***Short & Sweet Reviews are short, quick reviews. These will mainly be used for series books where I have already done full reviews on some of the earlier books or for books that I feel will suffice with a quick review. These will not be used for review requests or blog tours.


My thoughts: James Patterson's Alex Cross series will always remain one of my favorites of all his series and I think this one is more in line of his earlier books. It's gritty and very heavily reliant on the police procedural side of things, more so than the previous books have been.

Of course, there are still the usual trademarks that we have come to love - the breakneck speed, the short chapters that lead to that "just one more chapter" mentality, and a twisting, crazy plot that keeps you on your toes. We still see Alex's family, who at this point in the series, at 28 books, have almost become family to us!

This book keeps you engaged and on the edge of your seat all the way until the very end and I love that about these books. They are fast reads that I know I will enjoy and can pick up and breeze through. I'm not sure what's next for Alex and the gang, but I know I am here for the long haul, however long that is!

Books in this series: 

1. Along Came a Spider                    16.  Cross Country
2. Kiss the Girls                                   17.  Cross Fire
3. Jack and Jill                                    18. Kill Alex Cross
4. Cat and Mouse                               19.  Merry Christmas, Alex Cross
5. Pop Goes the Weasel                    20.  Alex Cross, Run
6. Roses are Red                                 21.  Cross My Heart
7. Violets are Blue                              22.  Hope to Die
8. Four Blind Mice                             23.  Cross Justice
9. The Big Bad Wolf                            24.  Cross the Line
10. London Bridges                              24.4  Cross Kill     
11. Mary Mary                                       24.5  Detective Cross
12. Cross                                                 25.  The People vs. Alex Cross
13. Double Cross                                   26.  Target: Alex Cross
14. I, Alex Cross                                    27.  Criss Cross
15. Alex Cross's Trial                      28.  Deadly Cross