Hope to Die: (Alex Cross 22)

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Just when the detectives think they're closing in on the elusive murderer, the Tiger disappears into thin air.

Okay, I was really annoyed with the author when he ended the last book with such a cliff-hanger, especially since I thought that book had been one of the best in this very long series. Always the same story: his poor 90-something year old grandma, his children, and current partner all in the hands of various madmen and it's that same story over and over. Cross’s family-his loving wife Bree, the wise and lively Nana Mama, and his precious children-have been ripped away.

I seem to have read a lot of books recently that include death by pigs - the first time I thought the author was making it up but it seems so popular in modern crime books I guess it must be true. There they find a world of trouble, corruption, and secrets, all of them closed to outsiders like Cross and Mahoney. With his entire squad behind him, working the case with feverish speed; the FBI and every law enforcement agency getting into the act; still Cross felt helpless. Cross's family-his loving wife Bree, the wise and lively Nana Mama, and his precious children-have been ripped away. Drawing on their years of street training and an almost telepathic mutual trust, Cross and Sampson go deep behind military lines to confront the most terrifying-and deadly-killers they have ever encountered.

C., the series follows the Metropolitan Police Department detective as he hunts criminals, solves grisly murders and strives to protect his family. He is the creator of unforgettable characters and series, including Alex Cross, the Women’s Murder Club, Jane Effing Smith, and Maximum Ride, and of breathtaking true stories about the Kennedys, John Lennon, and Princess Diana, as well as our military heroes, police officers, and ER nurses. If you’ve been reading and enjoying the Alex Cross series, then Cross My Heart and Hope to Die should appeal as they very much offer more of the same quality and crime thriller suspense. The worst part of bad writing/non-editing is the chapter dealing with Alex Cross having to kill someone at the direction of Marcus Sunday (the antagonist). Hope to Diepropels Alex Cross’s greatest challenge to its astonishing finish, proving why Jeffery Deaver says “nobody does it better” than James Patterson.Alex soon realizes he may have much to answer for, as "M" lures the detective out of the capital to the sites of multiple homicides, all marked with distressingly familiar details -- details that conjure up decades-old cases. Thierry’s warfare against Cross is a psychological one; a nightmare whose ending will culminate in the torture and murder of each member of the Cross family. Hope to Die picks up where Cross My Heart ended (I only got the title tie-in now), with Alex Cross falling apart because his family has been kidnapped. But someone very high-up is using the FBI, Secret Service, and CIA to keep him off the case and in the dark.

As he explores the possibility of a new relationship with a woman who offers him new hope, Alex must also confront the fact that his beloved grandmother is only human.

With a climax that is both surprising and unexpected, a far cry from the frustration of Cross My Heart (Alex Cross), Hope to Die is one of James Patterson's best novels in a long time. The picture becomes clearer with each new chapter, focusing on plot of the villain to wreak a final storm on Alex Cross while Alex is working on his own plan to unleash a befitting retribution.

Cross is being stalked and mentally tortured by someone who clearly has a psychotic streak; early on, as two mutilated bodies turn up that are presumed to be Cross's wife Bree and his son Damion, Cross is so emotionally devastated that he's barely able to function.

After shots pierce the tranquil nighttime calm of Rock Creek Park, a man is dead: what looks at first like road rage might be something much more sinister. Nana Mama, Bree, and his three children have been kidnapped, and he has been given photos showing they were executed. Cross is in the midst of a personal crisis at home, but the case becomes all-consuming as he learns that the Mastermind is plotting one huge, last, perfect crime. In this one I felt the author managed to capture that earlier AC essence so I am glad I read this one.