When I read any of the twenty-one Alex Cross novels, written by James Patterson, I imagine Alex is more like Forrest Whittaker than Morgan Freeman (who played Cross in ‘Along Came A Spider’ and ‘Kiss The Girls’: Film Adaptations). of the first two books in the series). By saying “when I read…” that implies that he could have read (or even owned) the lot, and was at one point on that path, I’ll admit. When he traveled a lot on business, I found the ‘Airport Edition’ of his novels compulsive airplane meat, admiring the short chapters and fast-paced plots: a trip to see the buyer in Barcelona, with two two-hour flights and a lot of sitting in hotels and terminals, and I would say goodbye to a Patterson a month. But I got tired of the style when Cross chases a bad guy across West Africa and took a break several years ago.
This is not difficult fiction. The relationships are fairly straightforward, the criminals very nasty, and the violence brutal and detailed. The good guy (Alex) always wins in the end, there are plenty of dangers, and more than what might be considered the normal number of psychopaths in the District of Columbia. So I knew what I was getting when I chose this as a light holiday relief this year: over twenty hours of coach travel, and a second book that promised something to chew rather than swallow, suggested the need for a little pulp.
So, in ‘Merry Christmas, Alex Cross’ (not convinced by the comma in the title?), our hero goes from a minor mishap at his church over an offering box to a two-part set over the Christmas holidays. that he was looking forward to spending time with ‘Nana Mama’, his new wife, Bree, and their several children.
It’s Christmas Eve, it’s snowing heavily and a madman holds a family hostage, with guns and terror. Alex is called to negotiate the release of the hostages: the kidnapper’s ex-wife and her new husband, as well as her two children and a dog. He does it pretty quickly (although he sleeps in the middle of a police department trailer), and also saves the villain from the piece, so that he (the kidnapper, a wealthy and talented former corporate lawyer who took himself seriously out of the rails) could testify against the pharmaceutical company he once successfully defended, knowing all the while that they were actually wrong. I don’t recall anyone dying (well, one did, almost, I guess). This half of the book contained danger, blood, and lots of snow. Alex also got very tired.
Cue the second half, totally unrelated to the first, except Alex was even more tired (sic) at the end of this next bigger showdown: this time with international terrorism. There was some good action, some unlikely scenarios involving ventilation shafts, and at least one very large train. Set in a crowded train station on Christmas Day, there are barrels of nasty chemicals, a dead child in a fast food joint (it was a decoy), and the intent to kill many, many people with something very poisonous. There are dead postal workers and lots of snow, and a snow-covered 4×4 with Bedouins on board, but at the end Cross, the expert FBI profiler, and his best friend John Sampson (who is probably more the size of Forest Whitaker). think about it. So who makes Alex on my mind then? Denzel Washington maybe?) He wins the day, and our hero can return to his family to finish their grueling Christmas outing.
I think I’ll leave it for a while before I choose the next one (as I inevitably will, which is, I suppose, why Mr Patterson has sold £86.5m worth of books since 2001 at last count). ). They all follow a formula that should keep the pages turning: the twisted plots aren’t overly demanding; the characters not too deep (but mostly believable); and the bad guys incredibly bad and very cruel; abundant blood and guts; and there is always the family to return even after many dangers!
I give it four or maybe five out of ten, but I made it through despite my (internal) groans; I kept wanting to know the next action, and like I said, I’ll probably do another one before long, maybe on my next long drive?