Mrs. Stephenson
AP Language
25 February 2013
Book Review
James Patterson is a #1 New York Times bestseller, His Alex Cross series, in which the main character is looking in every nook and cranny while solving cases dealing with cold blooded killers and even government officials, has held readers captive for a little over a decade. In I, Alex Cross, Alex Cross is a famous detective who is known for solving the toughest cases in his hometown of Washington. While celebrating his birthday with his family, he receives a phone call that will change the course of his life. When Cross answers the phone he finds out that his niece Caroline Cross had been in a brutally murdered, he has to pick up the case. This sets the gears in motion for the rest of the story. Cross realizes that this is no average case and that the person he may be taking down is not only dangerous, but someone in the White House. As the reader advances through the novel it is told from the first person point of view. Like Nancy Drew, Alex Cross always solves his case.
Alex Cross, the protagonist, is a family man. When he received the call that his beloved niece’s remains have been found, he shoots into action on the case. “Caroline Cross” he said and my heart nearly stopped.” says Alex Cross as he describes the moment he finds out his niece has died. This is a pivotal moment in the beginning because it makes the case important and connects Cross to it emotionally. Cross who was raised by his grandmother, Nana instilled in cross that you never turn your back on family. In the novel, Cross faces another traumatic blow when Nana gets very sick. Although Nana, his confidant and his role model, is sick he feels a stronger urgency to solve the case. While trying to solve this case, Cross realizes that this may be more dangerous than any case that he has ever solved, but still keeps digging to get answers for his family. He is torn between being there for Nana and solving his niece’s brutal murder. Even as he finds out that Caroline was mixed up in some risky business at a club called Black Farms, he still keeps pushing.
The novel is concentrated on the secrets that are being hidden to protect