Book Review - James Patterson's "Double Cross" An Alex Cross Mystery

Patterson has the mystery novel writing formula down pat. He writes short, punchy chapters, with lots of action and a little sex thrown in for good measure. As in all of Patterson's books, there is little description. Cross has a new sweetie named Bree who is, of course, brilliant, beautiful, and a cop so she's good with guns and knows karate - but I have no idea what color her hair is, how tall she is, how old - you know stuff like that. I'm assuming she's African-American because Cross is, but we don't know. He never describes her.In "Double Cross," Patterson resurrects an old villain from a previous novel, Kyle Craig. For some reason, Patterson has a penchant for using villains in more than one book. It's a smart move on Patterson's part. He can get double - maybe triple work from one bad guy. In the beginning of the book, Craig breaks out of a Super-max jail in a rather interesting and unusual way. Then we don't hear about him for quite a while.The main villain in this bo
ok fancies himself an actor and plays various roles. He craves an audience for his "plays" and kills people in vicious and bloody ways. The press dubs him DCAK -District of Columbia Audience Killer. We follow his horrid crimes while Alex, Bree and old buddy Sampson struggle to follow the clues and find him before he can kill again.I enjoyed reading "Double Cross." None of Patterson's books ever strain one's brain, but they are interesting, fast reads. I love the short choppy chapters. They make the book fly. I do have one picky, however. Toward the end of the book, the bad guy in one of his "roles" follows Alex and Bree to the airport and watches then board a plane for Colorado. He then goes to the ticket agent, flashes a badge and asks the woman what flight the two cops are returning one - and she tells him! No, I don't think so. Airlines are regulated by the Federal Government and no one can access a passenger list without a search warrant. It's a small detail and really u
nimportant, but I write mystery novels and it jumped out at me.In all of Patterson's mysteries, the antagonist is usually brilliant, rich and out-smarts Alex Cross until the very end, when the bad guy is unmasked and killed - unless he'll be used in another book, in which case he gets away. This book is no exception.

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