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Title: What's Happened to James Patterson?
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed the initial Alex Cross novels, but this was a resounding disappointment. Patterson seems to have evolved into an author who no longer cares about the quality of his writing. If you can accept the premise of the F.B.I. recruiting someone from a city police force and immediately jumping them over seasoned veterans to a position of dominance, then, perhaps you will be readily able to accept the many other unlikley aspects of this novel. Rather than contributing to character development, Patterson's subplots involving Cross's family and friends seem manipulative and shallow. His long distance romance is like a teenage view of love and separation. The most manipulative facet of the entire book is the ending which seems to have no motivation driving it other than an effort to get readers to buy the next epsiode when it comes out. It shouldn't be a long wait-it can't take much time for Patterson to type a book of this quality.
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