James Patterson - I, Alex Cross

You can't run
Detective Alex Cross is pulled out of a family celebration and given the awful news that a beloved relative has been found brutally murdered. Alex vows to hunt down her killer, and soon learns that she was mixed up in one of Washington's wildest scenes. And she was not this killer's only victim.

You can't hide
The hunt for the murderer leads Alex and his girlfriend, Detective Brianna Stone, to a place where every fantasy is possible, if you have the credentials to get in. Alex and Bree are soon facing down some very important, very protected, very dangerous people in levels of society where only one thing is certain - they will do anything to keep their secrets safe.

Alex Cross is the only hope to stay alive
As Alex closes in on the killer, he discovers evidence that points to the unimaginable - a revelation that could rock the entire world.

-

The latest installment in Patterson's Alex Cross series is one that really took me by surprise. I remember with the last Cross book I vowed I would go back to listen to the audiobook but as it happened I got the book first and I really liked it. A high profile mystery that brings back all the characters the reader has come to love a while back and that truly vanished into the background lately.

The story builds up great but the revelation of who the killer is, is a bit of a letdown, not exciting enough and it seems everything Alex learns in his case was handed to him. Also there are a few points hardly to believe, especially when it comes to the cover ups.

In the end the novel is better than the past ones. It left me wanting more Cross novels.

Rating:
Visit James Patterson.

Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; 1 edition (November 16, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0316018783
ISBN-13: 978-0316018784

Stephen King - Under The Dome

On an entirely normal, beautiful fall day in Chester's Mill, Maine, the town is inexplicably and suddenly sealed off from the rest of the world by an invisible force field. No one can fathom what this barrier is, where it came from, and when -- or if -- it will go away.

Dale Barbara, finds himself teamed with a few intrepid citizens -- the town newspaper owner, a physician's assistant at the hospital, a select-woman, and three brave kids. Against them stands Big Jim Rennie, a politician who will stop at nothing to hold on to the reins of power, and his son. Because time isn't just short... It's running out.

-

Under The Dome holds up to its promise with colorful heroes and villains that make your skin crawl.
On a beautiful sunny day the small town of Chester's Mill is shut off from the rest of the world. The town's people find themselves under an invisible cheese cover that is touchable but won't let anyone in or out.

What happens is what is expected: the powers that be seek more power and influence, although this means to discard of those that don't agree.

Under the Dome an own economic system develops until all else is or will be exhausted which includes air.

Under the Dome is no classical King horror story. Although it is a dark story it shows how human behavior will develop in an enclosed environment which might just make it even more frightening.
As always the reader will meet lots of different characters, each playing its own role in the story. The smalltown life, carelessness and stereotypes are beautifully pictured in this novel and it fits most cut and dried opinions.

I am not sure if there should ever be a judgement on character development. Especially with a novel that has 1000+ pages and lots of characters playing a part in it. Character development probably isn't the point either if you look at the main picture. At the what happens if... .

Love it and got what I expected !

Rating:
Visit Stephen King.

Hardcover: 1088 pages
Publisher: Scribner; 1 edition (November 10, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1439148503
ISBN-13: 978-1439148501