"Fast-Paced Thriller"

Mr. Patterson's enigmatic D.C. detective, Alex Cross, is back again. This time, his childhood friend and fellow detective, John Sampson, has asked for Alex's assistance. Ellis Cooper, a friend of Sampson's from his army days in Vietnam, has been convicted of a horrible triple murder, just outside of Fort Bragg, North Carolina. While DNA and other substantial evidence definitely points to Cooper, Sampson is convinced that his old friend could not have committed such brutal crimes.

As the two detectives travel to North Carolina, they are unable to uncover enough substantial evidence, which could exonerate Cooper. But his time on death row is slowly running out, and Cross and Sampson begin searching for similar murders where seemingly innocent military men have been convicted of heinous crimes. Their search leads them from the campus of WestPoint to the shores of New Jersey and the Georgia woods. Danger seems to follow their every move, as they encounter the stone wall of silence imposed by the army as well as the brutality of some very determined killers, whose crimes seem to be rooted in the jungles of the Vietnam War.

Patterson's first person account as told by Alex Cross details the seemingly normal life of Alex and his family juxtaposed against the seamier side of his life as a detective. As usual in Patterson's novels, the hunt for the true killer mastermind is a fast-paced roller-coaster ride full of twists and turns as both clues and the body count mount.

Reviewed by Sheri Melnick
Posted November 19, 2002

Summary

Alex Cross is on his way to resign from the Washington Police when his partner John Sampson shows up at his door. One of Sampson's oldest friends has been framed for murder and, worse yet, is subject to the insular laws of the U.S. Army. The evidence is strong enough to send him to the gas chamber. Cross and Sampson plunge into a case where military codes of honor conceal dark currents of revenge and ambition, and the men controlling the moves have the best weapons and training the world can offer. Drawing on their years of street training and an almost telepathic mutual trust, Cross and Sampson go deep into military lines to confront the most terrifying-and lethal-killer they have ever encountered.