Product Description

While you wait for the next exciting installment in the "Alex Cross series", "I, Alex Cross" (published November 2009 by Century), get your hands on a new book written by Alex Cross himself! Ben Corbett is a brilliant young lawyer in early-twentieth-century Washington DC. Yet he is a disappointment to his wife and father, who believe he wastes his talents by doing poorly-paid and thankless work helping the poor and downtrodden. One day, out of the blue, he receives a private invitation to the White House. President Theodore Roosevelt has personally selected Ben to help him investigate rumours of lynchings and a re-emergence of the outlawed Ku Klux Klan in Ben's own hometown of Eudora, Mississippi. Ben accepts the mission handed to him and is given the name of a man in Eudora who will help him in this covert operation - the man's name is Abraham Cross, great-uncle of Alex. As Ben delves into the murky depths of racial hatred that hide beneath the surface of this seemingly sleepy Southern town, people become suspicious of what he is trying to do, and make it very clear to Ben what he is risking if he continues. Ben must decide if he is willing to lose old friends, his family, maybe even his life, for the cause he believes in. In his quest to bring about justice for the tortured and tormented black community of Eudora, Ben will have to take on the biggest, most difficult, and most dangerous trial of his life. But can one man fight an entire town, an entire state that is stuck in the past and willing to go to any lengths to halt change and the coming of a future that they desperately fear?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #426 in Books
• Published on: 2009-09-10
• Binding: Hardcover
• 400 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Over the years, James Patterson has consolidated a reputation as one of the most copper-bottomed treasures in the crime genre with his Alex Cross books, and he has perfected a canny (but highly persuasive) economy in his narratives: his clipped, highly charged, pithy chapters possess not an ounce of subcutaneous fat (and frequently move towards some kind of unresolved climax, guaranteeing that we have to turn to the next chapter). Alex Cross’s Trial, the latest outing, is something very different for his quadriplegic investigator, but Patterson (as ever) displays the page-turning skills that are his trademark (assuming, of course, that the bulk of the book is his work – this is another of his many portmanteau efforts; from his army of co-authors, he here utilises Richard Dilallo).

The innovations in Alex Cross’s Trial involve nothing less than Alex himself narrating the story of young Washington lawyer Ben Corbett who lived at the turn of the Nineteenth Century.

Ben is highly adept at his job, but is still regarded by his wife and father as something of a failure, wasting his time (as they see it) by doing unremunerative work for the poor and oppressed. Then, to his amazement, Ben receives a summons to the White House – President Roosevelt, no less, has selected him personally to help look into lynchings performed by a newly emergent Ku Klux Klan.

As an insight into Alex Cross’ background, this is both illuminating and provocative, but James Patterson (and his collaborator) prove quite as adroit at a historical narrative as at a contemporary one. --Barry Forshaw

About the Author
JAMES PATTERSON is one of the best-known and biggest-selling writers of all time. He is the author of some of the most popular series of the past decade: the Women's Murder Club, the Alex Cross novels and Maximum Ride, and he has written many other number one bestsellers including romance novels and stand-alone thrillers. He lives in Florida with his wife and son. James is passionate about encouraging both adults and children alike to read. This has led to him forming a partnership with the National Literacy Trust, an independent, UK-based charity that changes lives through literacy.

Customer Reviews

Not an Alex Cross book but still excellent
I knew before I bought this book that it was not a traditional Alex Cross novel, it is a book "written" by Alex Cross, based in 1906 America, telling the story of a man named Ben Corbett who returns to his hometown Eudora, Mississippi after being instructed by the President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt to meet with Abraham Cross (Alex's great-uncle) and write a report on the murderous lynchings and try and stop the racial tension that was very common in the deep south back at the turn of the century.

I am a big fan of James Patterson, having read most of his novels over the years, and despite misleading marketing by putting Washington DC's favourite fictional detective in the title (even though he only appears to write the short 2-page prologue at the beginning) which will no doubt be a big disappointment to anyone who hasn't read the description before buying it, I found this book to be very good and had me gripped from the opening chapters. I don't know a great deal about early 1900s American history but this book (which is apparently close to being non-fiction) has really opened my eyes to how bad things were between black and white people back then, with sickening murders and torture (much of which is in very graphic detail in this book) and abuse. The story itself is told from the perspective of Corbett, a lawyer from Washington who leaves his wife and daughters to do the work the President has given him, seeing his old hometown in a completely different light from when he was a boy.

Overall this was a very interesting and different read that I found to be surprisingly good with decent characters, a fast-paced plot and a good ending. If you read this not expecting it to be an Alex Cross book and you have an interest in historical fiction then you will more than like enjoy this. If you're after the next Alex Cross novel in the series however, you'll have to wait until the end of October.

False Advertising
As with many of the Patterson books, this is well researched and reasonably well written. However, shame on the author and shame on the publisher and shame on anyone else who perpetuated a piece of very false advertising. This has nothing to do with Alex Cross.

It's not that the book is bad, it is that is is NOT what it purports to be. It surprises me that such a successful writer and such a large publishing company, feel the need to mislead consumers so badly.

Different to the usual Alex Cross Novels, but very good.
I have read all the Alex Cross novels and thoroughly enjoyed them, so much so that I didn't bother to see what this book was about before ordering it. When I did actually read the cover I must admit I was a bit unsure that it was going to be as actioned packed as the rest of the books in the series, however it was! I read the book over 2 days and couldn't put it down once I had started, it is different to the other books and for Alex Cross fans, it doesn't really have any connection to the ongoing story of the detective or his family. It's more realistic than his usual novels and is based largely on fact, it's centred around racism in the south of America in the early 1900's and has some very poignant parts, there are highs and lows in the story and it is really interesting. It's similar to John Grisham's 'The Street Lawyer' or 'The Chamber' so if you liked those then you will really enjoy this one.