Cross Down by James PattersonMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
This book is marketed as an Alex Cross novel, but in reality it focuses almost exclusively on John Sampson. Alex and John are working together on an inter-agency group initiated by the president in hopes of halting the myriad terrorist attacks across the U.S. Early the book Alex is sidelined after an ambush and is recuperating in the ICU after surgery. Alex and the rest of the Cross gang are all present in the book, but are really just tertiary characters.
The tone is very different from the typical Alex Cross novels, and I would label it more as a military thriller. John Sampson goes rogue along with FBI buddy Ned Mahoney. And I was a little surprised by the level of violence; the body count is almost as high as a John Wick movie. In the end, John and Ned save the day...the president...and the country.
It's a quick read, includes Patterson's trademark short chapters, and held my interest. However, it definitely feels like the beginning of a spinoff series for John Sampson, as is evidenced by the fact that Patterson has a co-author on this book (one thing he hasn't had for any of the other Alex Cross books).
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