Average Rating: 
Rating:  - He's back!
Alex Cross is on the verge of resigning from the D.C. police
when childhood buddy and partner, John Sampson comes to him for
assistance. Sampson's friend has been framed and accused of
killing three Army wives on an Army Post, so Alex and Sampson
set out to prove he's been set up. In their research, they're
faced with the brick wall of silence and lack of cooperation
from the military, numerous similar murders, and they even end
up the targets of the military trained killers.In this book, we're immediately told who the killers are, but in
true James Patterson fashion, we're left sitting on the edge of
our seats as we learn why they're killing, leaving clues behind
and painting the bodies red, white or blue. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and felt the suspense was
masterfully drawn in a manner that encourages you to continue
reading until the last sentence. Unlike the previous Alex Cross
books, this one gave us more of a look inside the lives of Sampson and Nana Mama and that coupled with the suspense puts
this at the top of my reading list for 2002. Reviewed by Tee C. Royal
Rating:  - The body count almost equals the number of chapters
In this thriller, at the urging of his old friend John Sampson, Alex Cross gets involved in the investigation of a series of grisly murders. The book opens as Alex and John Sampson try to prove the innocence of an old buddy of Sampson's, who's on death row for a grisly murder of three women in North Carolina. We follow Alex and John through a series of new murders as they try to find the killers and their motive.This was the first Alex Cross mystery I've read. I can see that other reviewers liked some of the previous Alex Cross novels better than this one. I found the unravelling of the mystery to be credible, but I was somewhat appalled by the large number of murder victims who were "collateral damage." I can't recall a mystery I've read recently with more dead bodies in it. I found the short chapters somewhat irritating, as there was very little character development that occurred in this story. I might go back and read the earlier Alex Cross stories. This one certainly assumed that the reader had a lot of background information on Alex's old cases.
Rating:  - Don't Believe the Book Jacket Hyperbole but a Good Read
This is a more than adequate prototypical James Patterson assembly line thriller involving another case for fans of DC Detective Alex Cross. The dialog is simple, the action is fast, the murders are brutal, there is a mastermind to catch, and the chapters are shorter than ever (less than four pages on average). However, I found this book much more enjoyable than the last few Cross books. First, we don't get so many mindnumbing gruesome details about the murders. Second, John Sampson's character gets fleshed out and he has a more instrumental role in the story. Third, it was much more a straighforward police procedural and detective story despite a few stupid and unrealistic actions by Cross (including breaking and entering at the home of one of the suspects). Last, I personally was glad that a bestselling author like Patterson addressed the continuing effect of the Vietnam War on many veterans and the ethical dilemmas which they faced, even if this is a very superficial treatment.As usual, Patterson hooks you through immediate action and the fact you're several chapters in the book almost before you have begun, since it's always easy to read another three or four pages. This is no literary masterpiece and there are no long descriptive sections, just the necessary facts to advance the plot intermixed with more than usual degree of involvement in the personal lives of Cross (and his new girlfriend Jamilla), Sampson, and Nana, Cross' grandmother. Sampson's Vietnam buddy, Ellis Cooper, is convicted of a brutal triple murder based on compelling physical evidence. He contacts Sampson from Death Row and he and Cross become convinced that he was framed. As they investigate, they uncover several previous murders where Vietnam vets were apparently similarly framed and executed. We are then introduced to the three killers, a professional hit squad that was a covert assasination team in Vietnam. (Thus, in this book the suspense is more about how Cross and Sampson will trap the killers and why the murders have been committed than by whom or how.) Further murders occur and Cross and Sampson confront the killers but run into hostility from the miltary as they attempt to build their case. The action soon moves to the campus of West Point and direct involvement of the Army, and it becomes clear that there is someone directing events behind the scenes. Kyle Craig (known to previous Cross readers as the murderous FBI agent now in a maximum security federal penitentiary) appears briefly as a confidante of Tran Van Luu, also a prisoner, former Army agent in Vietnam, and leader of the NY Vietnamese gang, the Ghost Shadows. I found the conclusion more satisfying than recent Alex Cross books, and the explanation for the killings and the revenge exacted for long hidden events a sort of rough justice for all involved. Of course, as usual in Patterson novels a lot of questions concerning the details are left unanswered. For just a few examples, we don't know how all the evidence was fabricated, why the innocent victims were chosen, or how Kyle and Tran operated from supposedly solitary confinement. This book is recommended for both Alex Cross devotees and new James Patterson readers who want a quick easy read with a plot with a few intriguing twists.
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