Alex Cross, I’m coming for you–even from the grave if I have to.

Along Came a Spider killer Gary Soneji has been dead for over ten years. Alex Cross watched him die. But today, Cross saw him gun down his partner. Is Soneji alive? A ghost? Or something even more sinister?

Nothing will prepare you for the wicked truth.

I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised by my thoughts with this book. After all, I have been going back and forth with my opinions of the Alex Cross series for years now. Some are great. Some are okay and then some just suck. This is one of those books that falls between okay and sucking.

When it comes to bad guys from the series, Gary Sonjei is one of the ones I wasn’t exactly all that impressed with to begin with. Especially considering how well the Southern Gentleman was written in book two, I guess Gary was just not capable of leaving a lasting impression on me. He’s in the middle of my top Alex Cross foes, but to bring him “back to life” only helped to show exactly how hard Patterson has been trying to ignore the passing of time for Cross and Samson. The kids are growing up, but those two still remain in their forties… even though they should be pushing mid to late 60’s at this point. The inconsistency is bothersome for someone who has read the series because it fails to address that Cross is human and fallible. Instead, he continues to be the cookie cutter “detective” who magically figures out every plot with little to no real detective work and a ton of wand waving from Patterson or whatever co-writer/ghost writer he has actually writing the books.

Also, I found myself extremely annoyed by how Patterson still shies away from truly hurting Alex Cross. If you are part of his family or the core group, you don’t die. You magically find the best of luck in every situation. This includes everything from Nana Mama winning the freaking Powerball to everyone magically overcoming any and every medical emergency or threat. Honestly, Nana Mama wins the Powerball and most of us can’t even win $4 for getting the Powerball number. And for the sake of not spoiling the book, I’ll keep my other complaints to myself. But if you plan on continuing on with the series, I suggest you check it out. I have a feeling this is going to be a huge tie-in to the next book, which is kind of crappy because it forces people to read it (even though it’s not good) or risk being confused with the next book.

I suppose this is a prime example of Patterson continuing to milk that cash cow.

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