Cross Justice

This is the 23^rd novel in the Alex Cross series by the indefatigable James Patterson. In Cross Justice, Alex goes home to Starksville, North Carolina for the first time in 35 years. His hometown has so many unpleasant memories that he’s avoided going there, but he’s called back to help out with his cousin’s troubles. Stefan Tate, a physical education teacher, was accused of raping one of his high school female students, and then sodomizing and murdering one of his male students. The evidence against him is overwhelming. The book begins with a murder in Florida by a cross-dresser – so how could that tie into the events in North Carolina?

This was one of Patterson’s action-packed, can’t-put-it-down novels. Sorry for the clichés, but they work for this book. Patterson involves Alex’s entire extended family including his wife, three kids, grandmother, aunt, and multiple cousins. There are great bad guys. I thought the plot worked very well until about the 95% mark of the book, right until the final family mystery was revealed. Those of us who love this genre must be willing to suspend our attachment to reality, but sometimes the stretch that takes goes a bit too far. So, while loving the courtroom drama that brings this book to a climax, I found myself saying, “Oh, come on! Really?” If you read this one, I promise you’ll be entertained.