In the fourteenth installment of the Alex Cross series, James Patterson delivers an action-packed suspense which doubly entertains and heightens the reader’s socio-political awareness. Cross Country opens as Alex arrives on scene to investigate the brutal and sadistic mass murder of a Georgetown family. The case immediately becomes personal when he recognizes the matriarch as his collegiate lover, Ellie, an established professor and published author. Quite naturally, he vows to find the killer(s) to avenge Ellie and her family.

When within a few hours murders of other prominent diplomatic families are slain in the same manner; Cross finds a strong lead in an African mercenary known as the “Tiger;” a man who uses “lost” Sudanese boys as his henchmen.  Taken from today’s headlines and other books (A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, What Is The What by Dave Eggers), these “lost boys” are orphaned children who are often taken from camps where they are then drugged, trained to kill, and perform horrific acts toward their countrymen and peers.  Alex follows the Tiger to Nigeria and within minutes of landing, he is kidnapped, beaten and imprisoned for three days; only to be rescued by a cocky, obnoxious, and seemingly indifferent CIA operative. Just as innocent victims are starved, dehydrated, and stripped of all their money and belongings as well as their inalienable rights, so is Alex.  In this episode, he suffers from terrible physical and mental abuse.  He is tortured, threatened, kidnapped, and even dangled from windows, but that does not stop his relentless pursuit of the Tiger through the streets of Lagos, the jungles of Sierra Leone, and the refugee camps in the Sudan (Darfur).

Despite the governmental corruption, ugly politics, corporate greed, and police brutality, Alex manages to befriend a few brave, good-natured people. A maimed diamond mine worker with a prophetic name (Moses) and a beautiful Nigerian journalist, both act as his guide and savior in some very tight situations.  Cross Country satisfies a promise Alex (and perhaps Patterson) makes to several of his African benefactors — a promise to live to tell their stories, recount the atrocities (genocide, rapes, torture, starvation, amputations, etc.), and witness the depravation of their human rights.

Surprisingly, Alex is on the defensive throughout most of the novel.  Although he was anxious to see the “Motherland,” there was no one to greet him with a warm embrace, nor was there time to bask in the sun — he was fighting for his life constantly.  The plot ends in typical Patterson fashion — there is a rather weak climax and somewhat predictable plot twist (I was disappointed that so much was “told” to us in a few pages of Epilogue rather than “shown” to truly wrap up the loose ends neatly) and obviously culminating with Alex, our hero, living for another crime frighting episode.  I think fans of the series will be pleased with this offering.

Reviewed by Phyllis
APOOO BookClub

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