Double Cross

James Patterson should just stick to the Alex Cross and Women's Murder Club novels. The prolific author's collaborations with other authors(like 2007's You've Been Warned, which is now my least favorite Patterson novel ever, beating out Violets are Blue for the dubious honor) have never matched his solo efforts in these two series. Double Cross, the latest in the Alex Cross series, pits Cross against two psychopaths, one old and one new. While it doesn't match the quality of Patterson's earliest novels, it has enough chills, thrills and suspense to be a fast read.

When the novel starts, Alex Cross is a psychiatrist now that he has retired from the DC Police force. But he is dragged back to his old job when a psychopath, going by the name DCAK, starts committing shocking murders in full public view. Meanwhile Cross' old friend-turned-foe Kyle Craig, who was with the FBI before being unmasked as the killer known as the Mastermind, escapes from prison and is itching for revenge on everyone who was responsible for his arrest.

While the quality of his books has slipped quite a bit, Patterson has rarely, if ever, written a book that was not a fast read. The same is true of Double Cross too. With his trademark short chapters, each of which still manages to end with a nice hook, and multiple story lines, the novel zips along. There is enough suspense in DCAK's motives and clues(he leaves keepsakes like unsigned greeting cards, a bottle of sauce, etc. at each murder site) to keep us hooked till he is unmasked and both he and Kyle Craig are diabolical enough to make Cross' pursuit interesting. The encounters, both close and not-so-close, between Cross and his foes are suitably thrilling and it helps that the detours into Cross' family life are kept to a minimum.

Patterson's earlier books had some fantastic twists that caught us by surprise. Books like Cat & Mouse, Kiss the Girls and Cradle and All(an average book but contained one of the best twists ever) thrilled us with revelations that came out of the blue. Such twists have been missing in his newer books and things haven't changed in Double Cross. There is one very surprising twist but it is revealed too early and after that, the books is pretty much one long chase. There are a few surprises fed to us at regular intervals but none of them deliver any big shocks.