CROSS JUSTICE is an amazing book, full of mysteries, twists and turns, and flat-out jaw-dropping revelations. If you have ever picked up an Alex Cross novel or at least have a vague familiarity with James Patterson’s iconic police psychologist from Washington, D.C., you must (and here I grab you by the lapels and shake you, though gently) read this thriller.

The book begins with one of the most bizarre prologues you are liable to read this year before Cross and part of his very large family make an appearance. When they do, they are not in the familiar confines of D.C. but instead have made a grim pilgrimage to the appropriately named Starksville, North Carolina. Starksville is Cross’ hometown, but he has not been there for 35 years. The memories he has of his home and his parents can be placed in two different categories --- bad and sad --- that more often than not overlap. His boyhood home serves as a grim reminder that if not for his beloved Nana Mama, who raised him after the death of his parents, his life may have turned into something far different from what he has accomplished. It would take an emergency to bring him back to the area, and an emergency it is.

"CROSS JUSTICE is an amazing book, full of mysteries, twists and turns, and flat-out jaw-dropping revelations.... You may guess some of the answers to the mysteries presented here, but I’m fairly certain you won’t figure them all out."

Cross’ cousin Stefan, a man who has had more than his share of his own demons and difficulties, is being tried for the murder of a young man he was mentoring, and Cross’ niece is defending him. Cross, his grandmother, his wife and some of his children have made the journey in support of their family. He renews old and long-dormant acquaintances, but it quickly becomes obvious that a number of people outside of his family would rather see the back of him. Even worse, it appears that his cousin’s guilt is a foregone conclusion; all of the evidence seems to have him dead to rights. Cross tries to focus on the trial, but the town and his parents’ home serve up haunting and grim memories of his childhood. Meanwhile, the narrative occasionally shifts to Palm Beach, Florida, where an extremely clever serial killer with a very select group of targets is hiding, literally in plain sight.

It seems as if CROSS JUSTICE is two books in one, until the plots converge as Cross takes a quick jaunt down to Florida for some closure involving his father, making the acquaintance of a couple of homicide detectives and helping them solve their latest case along the way. Cross then returns to Starksville, where Stefan’s jury trial is about to get underway. He pulls some strings, resolving another potential family crisis and utilizing a contact from his past that perhaps will exonerate his cousin. The odds, though, are stacked against both of them, particularly because Stefan may well be guilty. It takes a final, surprise intervention before the truth (about many things) is ultimately revealed.

You may guess some of the answers to the mysteries presented here, but I’m fairly certain you won’t figure them all out. There is what might be the ultimate WTF moment in an Alex Cross novel near its climax, which may play out over the course of the next few installments. Even if you have never read any books in this series, you need to sink your teeth into CROSS JUSTICE now.