Double Cross by James Patterson

I am a huge fan of detective and cop novels, especially the ones that involve serial killers. I just can't resist reading about how crazy killers' murder people and how the cops simply cannot catch them no matter what. I came across a book by James Patterson, called Double Cross which is about a retired detective, Alex Cross, who used to be the best at what he did, who comes out of retirement to help re-catch a killer who broke out of a super-maximum security prison. Along with that is another killer who loves killing his victims in front of a crowd. It was very interesting and suspenseful because you never knew what was going to happen.

I thought it was smart how the crowd killer, who went under the name of DCAK, disguised himself differently for every kill, and performed it like he was performing in a play. His technique was just truly creative. I could not believe how the other killer, Kyle Craig, broke out of a super-maximum security prison. Just the name sounds like it would be impossible to break out of. He pulled it off nonetheless. Sure that would be a bad thing in real-life, but it is just cool to know how he did it, and it is something else.

One of the most shocking things I thought was how Alex, who was a psychiatrist, had two patients that were actually DCAK and his girlfriend under disguise. Alex had absolutely no idea until they had him captured towards the end. I thought through the whole book that these were two people with serious issues, and they turn out to be the killer and friend that Alex was chasing after through the whole book. That was a good surprise in the novel, I liked how that was.

I enjoyed all the action as well. The murders, as sad and gruesome as they were, grabbed my attention a little bit more as I kept reading. I desperately wanted the detectives to put all the clues together and figure out what they all meant, but that never happened. At one point Alex did figure out what they meant and how they all related to the same thing. I remember thinking about how smart those killers were. They were ridiculously smart. When a detective thought they were onto something, they weren't. The closer they got to figuring something out, the killer would perform another act, and they would get further away from catching him. I found that very entertaining. Detectives were after a guy that they could barely outsmart.

Double Cross got me interested in reading more of Patterson's novels. This one rocked, so I assume that most of his others are just as good. I would like to read more books that include Alex Cross. Double Cross is one of my favorite detective/thriller novels.