Alex Cross’s Trial by James Patterson and Richard DiLallo is a book within a book in which the introduction is written by the character Alex Cross and sets up the impending story of his ancestors. Abraham Cross lives in Eudora, Miss., and he helps the narrator, Attorney Ben Corbett uncover the truth behind the alleged lynchings in Mississippi and the rest of the South and to collect evidence for President Theodore Roosevelt.
“On the front lawn two adorable white children in a little pink-painted cart were driving a pony in circles. On the wide front veranda I could see the children’s mother observing their play and a small army of black servants hovering there.
This was a vision of the old South and the new South, all wrapped into one. There, gleaming in the drive, was a handsome new motorcar, brass fittings shining in the sun. And there, rushing across the yard in pursuit of a hen, was an ink-black woman with a red dotted kerchief wrapped around her head.” (Page 136)
Ben Corbett is a progressive attorney who moved from Eudora, Miss., joined the military, became an attorney at Harvard University, and moved to Washington, D.C., with his young wife and twin girls. He’s asked by Roosevelt to investigate the lynchings in the South and bring back evidence so that he can deal with the problem. Patterson and DiLallo offer up an authentic step back in time for this mystery, with appearances by W.E.B. Dubois and other historical figures.
Alex Cross’s Trial is a well-written off-the-beaten path novel in the Alex Cross series. Abraham Cross, a former baseball player with the Philadelphia Pythians, is an unassuming Black man living in the South, who has struggled against racism, but is willing to stake his life to make a real change in the nation. Readers will enjoy the quick page of the novel, the historical setting, and examination of issues that still exist today. Patterson and DiLallo have done a fantastic job in making a unique addition to the Alex Cross series.
For a couple takes on Cross Country, visit my mom’s review and my review. Also take a look at Washington, D.C., and my Alex Cross poem. Check out the other bloggers posting for Detectives Around the World Week. Thanks to Hachette Books for sending me a free copy of Alex Cross’s Trial to review.
Giveaway Details:
For those who have been following the Detectives Around the World Week, anywhere in the world, please answer the following question in the comments and leave me your email:
What has been your favorite post during the week and why?
Those who do not answer the question will not be entered, and I will select a random winner for the three latest Alex Cross novels, Cross Country, Alex Cross’s Trial, and I, Alex Cross through Randomizer.
Deadline is May 2, 2010, at 11:59 PM EST.
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Please also stop by today’s National Poetry Month Blog Tour stop at She Is Too Fond of Books and A Circle of Books.
This is my 6th book for the 2010 Thriller & Suspense Reading Challenge.
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