While James Patterson has several different and very successful
series going, his Alex Cross books are arguably his best known.
Some fans became slightly distressed when Cross’s friend and
colleague Kyle Craig did a heel turn and was revealed as The
Mastermind. If you are one of those readers who perhaps jumped off
the Cross train at that point, then DOUBLE CROSS, Patterson’s
latest installment in the series, provides ample reason to hop back
on.

Patterson is not a detail guy; he is not going to give you a
blow-by-blow account of how a certain frammistat works, or how
someone gets from point A to point B. What he does do, and with
great success, is keep his story moving. Let me tell you here and
now that DOUBLE CROSS moves at breakneck speed. It begins with a
flashback to the trial of Kyle Cross before segueing into the
introduction of the Audience Killer, one of the more interesting
villains Cross has ever encountered. The Audience Killer loves to
perform. His penchant is to commit murders --- and we are talking
grisly acts of violence here, my friends --- before as many
spectators as possible. Theaters, parkway overpasses, condominium
balconies --- there is no stage or audience too large for the
Audience Killer.

Cross, retired from law enforcement and attempting to focus
entirely on his counseling practice, is quickly drawn back into the
world of crime investigation when the Audience Killer makes it
clear that he is gunning for, and taunting, Cross. Apparently able
to appear and vanish at will, he seems to have the Washington, D.C.
police force stymied at every turn. To make matters worse, Craig
--- The Mastermind --- is executing an escape from the Colorado
maximum security prison where he has been ensconced, quietly
plotting his revenge against Cross.

And if that isn’t enough, there is a link between the
Audience Killer and Craig. As Cross and Washington police detective
Bree Stone --- Cross’s partner on and off duty --- attempt to
ascertain the Audience Killer’s identity and stop his
homicidal spree, Craig slowly but surely implements his plan to
join him in a final, and deadly, confrontation with Cross.

DOUBLE CROSS is one of Patterson’s best works to date, full
of action and excitement. It also advances a plot line that
Patterson has been reeling out over his last several Cross novels,
which has the potential to sustain the Cross mythos for as long as
he is willing to write them. One cannot read DOUBLE CROSS without
feeling as if there are even bigger things yet to come from Cross
and his creator.