The protagonist of 13 previous thriller crime novels by James Patterson, Washington-based murder investigator Alex Cross often eludes danger and snares villains more like a superhero than a mortal man. That's the situation in Cross Country (2008, Grand Central Publishing, 408 pages) when chasing a demonic killer takes Alex to the darkest corners of turbulent Africa.
A giant man nicknamed “the Tiger”, helped by unscrupulous, do-anything teenagers, massacres several families in the American capital. He stalks like a predator. “The boys waited restlessly at the Tiger's side, and he waited for instinct to tell him it was time to move on the house.
‘Now,’ he said, ‘we go!’
Then, with only the slightest bend and whack of the knees, he began to run, breaking out of the camouflaging shadow of an evergreen, his strides almost too fast to count.
A single, powerful leap and he was up on the stoop of the house. Next came three splintering blows to the front door.”
The aftermath isn't pretty. “While it's safe to say that I've seen some horrendous shit in the line of duty, this scene, the monstrosity of it, stopped me instantly.”
One victim happens to be Ellie Randall, Alex's college-days girlfriend. “I leaned in for a closer look at her and all of a sudden felt dizzy. My legs went weak. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.... I knew her – at least I once had.”
When the culprit retreats to Africa, Alex makes a foolhardy decision. He'll use vacation time and frequent-flyer points to follow onto the killer's home turf. Chasing a Tiger into its den sounds suicidal, but Alex disagrees. “I can get this guy.... He's arrogant, thinks he can't be caught. That's his weakness.”
Or is it? “The Tiger was an enigma in every way, a mystery no one had ever solved. Actually, there were no tigers in Africa, which was how he got his nickname. He was like no other, one of a kind, superior to all the other animals, especially humans.”
Any element of surprise vanishes. “ ‘You’re being followed by an American policeman.’
‘He won't go to Africa after me.’
‘Yes, actually he will....’
‘I see. Alex Cross. Not smart to travel all the way to Africa just to die.’ ”
Problems and dangers far exceed expectations. They start immediately. “No fewer than five Nigerian ‘officials’ stopped me on my way to the luggage carousels. Each of them asked for verification of my identity.... They all required a small bribe, or maybe they thought of it as a gratuity.”
Alex realizes it's “like a criminal investigation on Mars. That's how different life was here in Nigeria....”
Taking constant abuse, surviving huge risks and never surrendering, Alex resembles Superman. “My throat felt like it was closing up. Dehydration ate at me from the inside. Meanwhile, oversize mosquitoes and rats tried to do the same from the outside.”
Few readers will accept that a regional U.S. lawman would drop everything and risk his life on such an African mission – especially when he's never been there before, when his adversary holds every advantage. But Alex won the readers' hearts many books ago. He's such a likeable character that nearly everyone gladly suspends disbelief and goes along.
A few other things aren't entirely believable either. Alex knows that the killer likes to eliminate entire families, but foolishly fails to expect an inevitable threat to his own children. That's a serious mental block for someone who treasures his family.
Whatever the book's flaws, it effectively highlights brutality and injustice in Africa's most lawless and corrupt places. “ ‘They put me on a table and held me down. They asked if I wanted short or long sleeves for after the war. Then they cut my arm....’ ”
Patterson's core message is that, despite abundant evil and dire situations, Africa has hundreds of millions of good people whose woes deserve world attention and more diligent help. “ ‘There are many good people in Africa, sah, and no one to help them fight back against the devils,’ he said.”
For many such people, daily circumstances couldn't look much worse. “Somewhere along the way today, I'd stepped away from a terrible, terrible murder investigation and into an unbelievable holocaust. How was this possible in our world? Thousands dying like this every day?”
Alex witnesses worse than he could imagine. “No one had any idea about the carnage and suffering until they actually visited parts of Nigeria, Sudan, Sierra Leone – and there were no easy answers or solutions either.”
The title carries a double meaning. Much happens in Alex Cross country. Plus the manhunt crosses an ocean, national borders and some of the “dark” continent's most rugged country. “This part of Africa wasn't recommended for backpacking or camera safaris. The yowl of hyenas was a constant reminder of where I was now. So were the road signs that said things like WARNING – LIONS – CROCODILES!”
From Florida, Patterson excels with crime thrillers. He has sold nearly 200 million copies. His best titles include Kiss the Girls, Along Came a Spider, Sundays at Tiffany's, The Lake House, Cradle and All, When the Wind Blows and Cross.
Despite a few shortcomings, Cross Country shows impressive strength in content and technique. It's not a super-book, but has a superhero and a super message.
Approval rating: 75 per cent.
For more information: www.jamespatterson.com
(August 1, 2011)
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