"Texas Ranger" Doesn't Crack The Case

 

I figured a book with the title “Texas Ranger” on the cover would be a fun read, and it wasn’t a bad read. It was a fun enough read, but the problem with this book is the central character, Texas Ranger Rory Yates isn’t that good a detective. After his ex-wife is murdered, Rory becomes obsessed with the idea that her boyfriend, Cal is the killer, and that’s it. He doesn’t really dig further than that. While the book did keep me turning pages, with its short chapters and somewhat compelling narrative, I still can’t recommend this book due to me not having any faith in the main character solving the murder.

Rory just sounds like a whiney high school kid, yet he’s in his mid-30s. The actual writing of the book isn’t bad, but the main character in insufferable and breaks a ton of laws taking this murder case into his own hands. Rory goes to the crime scene without permission, even at one point, driving from Texas to New Jersey to accuse Cal of the murder, as Cal is a truck driver.

The problem is Rory is a hothead. There’s also a subplot about Rory trying to decide between two women, Sara Beth who is his high school sweetheart and attractive local longue signer named Willow. There’s also another sub plot about Rory’s dad having cancer, but he only tells Rory and hides it from the rest of his family. The subplot about Rory’s various relationships becomes relevant with a twist at the end of the book. However, if I’m going to read a book about a guy solving an case, I want him to solve and not the events of the book. I want the guy I’m reading about to solve the case, and that’s the problem with “Texas Ranger”.

On a side note, this book did get me interested in why Texas has rangers while the rest of the country doesn’t. According to what I read, Texas Rangers have been around since 1835, and they still uphold this tradition. However, the idea was for these Rangers to defend then new republic of Texas from Native American and Mexican attacks. So, the actual root of Texas Rangers was racist sounding. I’m not trying to go all woke here in my review, but when you have a modern police force, why does Texas still need Rangers and why keep something with a racist history so alive in the first place? But I’m getting off subject.

“Cross” Is an Alright Alex Cross Novel

 

“Cross” is the 12^th book in the Alex Cross series, a series I’ve been reading on and off for years. You don’t have to read them in order, but you must know a bit about Alex Cross’s history. Alex Cross is a widower and it’s important to his character, and he’s a committed family man. Sometimes Cross comes off like such a saint, a bit too wholesome for a detective.  In this novel, Alex Cross is after the man he thinks might have killed his wife, a serial killer and rapist simply known as the Butcher by local police enforcement. The man is named Michael Sullivan, and is by the look of it from outsiders, a family man.

This isn’t a bad set up, and in the first half of the novel, you get an extended prologue recounting Cross’s life with his wife and her eventual murder. This isn’t poorly done. The book gets a little ridiculous when the killer/rapist goes to other parts of the world to carry out hired killings. It seems a bit over the top. He even takes photographs of his rape victims after he is done with them. One of the things Patterson tends to do is make his villains a so over the top, that it leads to you to question how this person can even be real. However, he also gives some reasoning in this novel to why Michael Sullivan is so evil, flashing back to his abusive father.

Alex Cross tends to have his usual drama, with his grandmother, Mama Nana, telling Cross he needs to quite the force to better look after his children. The book has its usual narration style, going back and forth from the third person point of view following the villain around, and Cross’s narration of things going on in his life. Cross quits the force for a while and starts to be a private practice therapist. Though, Cross being Cross, he does bend some ethical boundaries to help his patients.

One of the problems I did have with this book is for a book titled Cross, we do spend a lot more time following around the killer. It’s like Patterson isn’t sure Alex Cross is an interesting enough character to follow for the whole book. I eventually wanted to get back to Alex Cross and his search for his wife’s killer, with his partner, Sampson. All in all, not a bad page turner. It’s your typical Patterson novel with the short chapters and action-packed scenes. As with all Patterson’s, you’ll read it, enjoy it and forget it when you turn the last page.