Top 10 best novels by James Patterson with Alex Cross

James Patterson is a great thriller and crime writer. He created many stand-alone novels and several famous cycles. One of them - with Alex Cross in the main role - I like the most, what's why I created ranking of best James Patterson books with Alex Cross.

Patterson has written more than 100 novels, some as a co-writer. I do not know them all, maybe when I'm retired, I will have the time to read them :-), so I wanted to focus on a particular segment of  Patterson's work. To be more specific – on the Alex Cross series.

Alex Cross is a former FBI agent and psychologist who works in Washington DC. I like this character, because he is so different from the typical detectives in most crime novels.

Cross first appeared in the novel called Along Came a Spider published in 1993 (in 2001 the novel was filmed by Lee Tamahori with Morgan Freeman in the lead role).

Since then, readers got 22 novels with Alex Cross in the lead role. The last one is from 2014 and it is titled Hope to Die.

Which is best in my opinion? Below I present my top ten best novels with Alex Cross:

1. Alex Cross, Run (see description)
2. I, Alex Cross (see description)
3. Along Came A Spider (see description)
4. Hope to Die (this is the continuation of Cross My Heart) - (see description)
5. Kiss the Girls (see description)
6. Pop Goes the Weasel (see description)
7. Four Blind Mice (see description)
8. Jack & Jill (see description)
9. Cross Fire (see description)
10. Mary, Mary (see description)

If you are looking for a good thriller turn your attention to Patterson's work, the Alex Cross series in particular!

Christmas presents ideas: best books for gifts

Christmas is getting closer and closer, that's why friends are asking me about some good new crime book or thriller, which they could buy as a gift for their dad, sister, son, aunt or grandfather :). Since I now have a blog, instead of responding them individually, I can give them a link to this post :).

I know that it's difficult to advise a specific title, not knowing anything about person who will get it. Besides, if the main criteria is the "novelty" of the book, I must base on the author's previous works, because I simply can't read all the latest novels which interest me as quickly as I would like to.

I would rather recommend a great book that was released e.g. a year ago, but then I hear the argument "he/she may already have this title".

So I looked through the list of newly published books and created a list of bestselling authors, whose names should be widely known. There is also no fear that it will be a poor novel, because these authors always guarantee a good reading experience. Even if one of them is in weaker form, he still manages to write in such a sugestive way, that is hard to divert attention from the novel :).

So which is the best book as a present for Christmas? :) Here is my list (in alphabetical order by author):

1. Zero Day by David Baldacci (see description)
2. The Affair by Lee Child (see description)
3. The Drop by Michael Connelly (see description)
4. Edge by Jeffery Deaver (see description)
5. V is for Vengeance by Sue Grafton (see description)
6. The Litigators by John Grisham (see description)
7. 11/22/63 by Stephen King (see more about this novel in my previous post)
8. Kill Alex Cross by James Patterson (see description)
9. The Impossible Dead by Ian Rankin (see description)

And finally – I pick one proposition for an exclusive gift. Do you know someone who constantly talks about the very popular Stieg Larson's trilogy – Millenium, and always say that one day he will buy it, and finally read it? You can get him Millenium for Christmas! :)

10.  Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy Deluxe Boxed Set: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, Plus On Stieg Larsson (see description).

Why I decided to put the titles in alphabetical order? Because it is difficult to compare these books. Some people like King, so probably will be glad to recieve his latest novel, others prefer legal thrillers, so will be content, when they will see cover of newest Grisham's novel, still others want more action, that's why Jeffery Deaver or Lee Child will be the best choice for them (if you have 100% certainty that person, which you want to buy a gift to, didn't read any of Jeffery Deaver's book, see my selection of his the best top ten novels).

Each of these authors is a solid writer, which guarantees a good, enjoyable time while reading. So I encourage you to see the descriptions of each of these books. This will allow you to choose appropriate titles for your loved ones! :)