He’s more than Alex’s best friend; he’s really Alex’s brother and is a key influence and balance to Alex, and I appreciated his moments to shine. From DC to Wyoming, Colorado, Paris, Amsterdam, Mexico, CA, MA and a crazy showdown in Montana on a wild river, this book takes us on a whirlwind ride. A master of his craft, Patterson slowly builds the plot with a series of set pieces, well-timed reveals, and a final twist that climaxes in a heart-pounding and tense ending.

The action begins immediately as we witness CIA operative and potential traitor Catherine Hingham being tortured to death by an unknown adversary. In Fear No Evil Cross is once again working with his long term friend and partner at Metro PD, John Sampson, and FBI agent Ned Mahoney. Many who follow my reviews will know that I have a love/hate relationship with James Patterson and his novels that appear to sell based on his name, rather than on any level of quality. Sampson is still grieving the death of his wife, Billie, and trying to be a good father to their little girl, Willow. This is the 29th installment of bestselling author James Patterson’s wildly successful Alex Cross thriller series.Plenty of fast paced action, lots of bodies, twists and turns galore, all the while chasing the bad guys! Alex and Sampson’s longstanding adversary M has reared his ugly head yet again and no sooner have Alex and John got a break in the mayhem and take off on their long awaited wilderness vacation – all hell breaks loose, again.

Each novel contains an entirely new plotline, however, there are references to prior narratives in each new novel. All the while Patterson teases with the elusive identity of his main antagonist and why they would be targeting Cross. Cross is still the supportive husband to Bree and good friend and longtime partner to John Sampson, always there in their times of need.

I adore the Patterson books but haven't read one for quite some time so I was excited to see Alex Cross and John Sampson again! There’s a needless Ali Cross subplot (a teaser for his next book, perhaps) but by changing up the setting significantly, it freshened up the series. His best friend, John Sampson his great friend since they were 10 years old has been a most enjoyable development.

Lots of characters and I sometimes had to re-read to figure out where everyone belonged but of course Patterson is worth it. While the series starter was a gripping suspense thriller where Alex pitted his wits against a shrewd serial killer, the latest one is low on suspense or mystery and pretty high on action. Me and my husband are huge readers of JP and have probably read almost all of them now, over the many years. There wasn’t much family development other than Bree’s storyline, which I enjoyed for the most part.He has written many other number one bestsellers including collaborations with President Bill Clinton and Dolly Parton, stand-alone thrillers and non-fiction.