I, Alex Cross

...by James Patterson and my 6th book for this hols... getting to my magic 10! Am already on my 7th. I, Alex Cross is on The New York Times' hardcover bestseller list at the moment. If I am not wrong, it's been sitting on the top spot for the last 2 weeks as of the time of this writing.

I've not picked up a book in this vein for some time. Used to read lots of John Grisham, Tom Clancy, Robin Cook and many other thriller/adventure novels. I stopped reading those kinds of books for many years cos I found 'quickies' easier meat. Moreover, they're all so thick and it wasn't convenient to bring the thick novels around. And also, the hectic schedule over the last 5 years where I've had tonnes of reading to do as I was coaching my son and his friends also meant that I had very little reading time left. Most of my free time would be spent reading up the subject matters and by the time I was done, I was mentally done also! This year I've reached the end of that particular road. 8) The burden is finally off and it feels most liberating! It's been trying and I'd say draining also cos it required lots of discipline and faith that God's grace will see me through... not just for them only!

Anyway, I, Alex Cross was quite easy reading. I finished the book in a day on my Ipod. Reason I could finish was I could carry it everywhere... so no time wasted at all. 8) Now see why I love my Touch? But I'm still of the opinion that kids should read books as in actually hold the real books and read. There are way too many distractions that can take their attention away from the 'book' in the Ipod; games would be Suspect No 1! An Iphone would make it even worse as they can go online and find even more distractions.

I, Alex Cross is a book that is tuned to the flavour of the day - conspiracy with a little kinky sex (as in to give more weight to the immunity people in power feel) and brutality thrown in. And to make it really interesting, the setting is Washington DC; where the power seats are. Seems to me like ever since 911, conspiracy dominates. But there are no gory graphic details... just mentions which makes it an okay read. The story line is good enough to keep me wanting to reach the end of the book. There are also efforts to highlight the value of family life...

Anyway, in a nutshell, I'd say this is another story of good triumphing over evil... small guy can still bring down the big bad guys. I supposed at least it gives some semblance of hope that good values still should still be our guiding principles... anyway, not my intention to go into the storyline but I'd recommend it a read for leisure.