I devoured the first two Alex Cross books, Along Came a Spider and Kiss the Girls, earlier this year. I had to take a break from Patterson’s addictive series just to let my head steady itself. His stories make my brain feel like a cup of wine he keeps swirling.
Five months later, I was ready to return. I’d read the first two books and decided to listen to the third, Jack & Jill. This installment is narrated by Ron Butler and Maxwell Hamilton. The story follows Cross as he attempts to untangle dueling killers: one leaving Jack & Jill rhymes at every crime scene, and one attacking children at the nearby school Cross’s son attends.
While I loved the first two installments, I feel like the series really begins to hit its stride here. We get inside Cross’s head a little more as he psychoanalyzes the potential killers. We also learn more about Cross himself. And Patterson leaves us guessing about certain aspects right up until the end, where he then dangles something for us to ponder before stepping into the next book.
The pacing was signature Patterson. The chapters were short and snappy, but the story slowed down when it needed to, giving certain scenes and characters the space and time to breathe.
I can’t recommend the audiobook version enough. Both Butler and Hamilton did a superb job narrating Cross and the killers. It genuinely saddened me to learn that Butler didn’t continue on as Cross’s narrator, because he brought the character to life so vividly.
While the series is written so each book can stand alone, I’m glad I started at the beginning. There’s enough going on in Cross’s life in each installment that readers will definitely benefit from reading them in order.
Jack & Jill might be my favorite of the season so far, though I know that’s likely to change — there are many, many, MANY more books waiting for me.
With that said, this is where I leave you, because the next installment, Cat & Mouse, is already on my Kindle and waiting.
Until next time,
Lisa
Because I believe that a TBR pile can never be too big, feel free to share some of your favorite reads with me here or on social media. You can find me Bluesky and StoryGraph (lisareadsbytrees).
