James Patterson - Alex Cross's Trial

Alex Cross's Trial

James Patterson and Richard DiLallo

Vision (Grand Central), Nov 30 2011, $9.99

ISBN: 9780446557788

His grandmother used to tell Alex Cross when he was a child the heroic tale of his great uncle Abraham who battled against the terrorism of the Ku Klux Klan in the first decade of the twentieth century in Mississippi. Now Alex as a father tells the same story to his children, but not as an oral saga, but as a novel Trial.

In Washington D.C., Ben Corbett is a crusading attorney fighting in court against the suppression of freedom. President Teddy Roosevelt asks Ben to return to his hometown of Eudora, Mississippi to investigate rumors that the Ku Klux Klan has returned with a fiery vengeance. When Ben meets Abraham Cross and his granddaughter Moody, he asks for their help on achieving his presidential assignment. They introduce him to the terror side of Southern living for people of color with the myriad of burnings and lynching Blacks suffer with. Already considered a traitor by the people he grew up with including his father for his passionate defense of Blacks and other suppressed people, Ben vows to end the terror.

This is a well written timely historical thriller that will remind readers America still has a cross to bear as violent intolerance towards others still remains. The title is misleading on two fronts as Alex has a cameo appearance and Ben is much more the hero than Abraham. Still though no classic Cross or Women's Murder Club detecting, fans of early twentieth century thrillers will enjoy this early twentieth century Mississippi Burning.

Harriet Klausner

My family and I were listening to this book on audio as we drove on a cross country trip. We were dumbfounded on the lack of authenticity of the time period the book was set in especially the language and action of the characters. The characters and their relationships were undeveloped and therefore unbelievable. Even our 13 and 14 year old teens predicted and were annoyed at the elementary use of cliche phrases and plot. Using the phrase, ' only a face a mother could love' twice in variation. The cute wrap up of a Teddy bear. Where was his editor?

I do believe this will have been our first and last James Patterson novel.