Book Review: I, Alex Cross

I, Alex Cross is the 16th book in the Alex Cross series by novelist James Patterson. If you have not read any of the Alex Cross series, here is a short bio. Alex Cross is retired Washington DC Police and F.B.I. forensic psychologist who now works as a private investigator and government consultant.  He lives in DC and has a Ph.D. in psychology from Johns Hopkins University (Remember though that the character is fictional).

Anyway, in this book, Alex Cross was celebrating his birthday with his family when he was given a bad news. His niece, Caroline, was found brutally murdered. Vowing to solve the murder of his beloved relative, he set on quest to give justice to whoever murdered his niece. Little did he know the he would soon be enveloped in a cloud of fantasy and violence that led to the murderer known as Zeus, who has all the connections to the White House.

This novel was enjoyable to read. The book has a mix of intrigue, romance and family values. Chapters were not long which made it enjoyable to read since it is straight to the point. What makes it more enjoyable is the tempo of the book going from a fast action sequence to a slow but calming scene. The setting, even though the book is fictional, is real with mostly around the Washington, DC area. The only setback with this novel is the abrupt ending. You will find out what I mean once you read the book.

Title: I, Alex Cross
Author: James Patterson
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 374 pages + 11 pages preview of Witch and Wizard

Publish Date: November, 2009
Media Type: Hardcover, Audiobook
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
ISBN: 0316018783

James Patterson's website

Book Wars

Last Week, Walmart.com started the online Book Wars by slashing the prices of 10 highly anticipated hardback titles to $10. Amazon.com, the largest online bookseller, followed suit slashing prices on the same 10 titles to $10. Walmart slashed the price to $9 and Amazon followed suit.

Then 10 books are:

1. Going Rogue: An American Life by Sarah Palin
2. Ford County by John Grisham
3. Under the Dome by Stephen King
4. I, Alex Cross by James Patterson
5. Breathless by Dean Koontz
6. Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton
7. Kindred in Death by J.D. Robb
8. Ice by Linda Howard
9. The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver
10. First Lord's Fury by Jim Butcher

The last time I checked, Walmart has slashed their prices further - going down to $8.98 and $8.99 with free shipping. While Amazon stuck with $9.00 price. Now, Target has joined the war offering $8.99 to six (6) of the books listed above (1, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 9) plus shipping. Walmart has a pre-order price  guarantee on the books meaning if the prices goes lower, then you will received the lowest price. Will Barnes & Noble and Borders follow suit?

What's the benefit of the price wars to consumer? Well, if you haven't realized, you are saving tons of money of possibly the hottest books that will be coming out this November. The hardcover, Under the Dome by Stephen King has a regular price of $35. That means, you save $26.02 or at least 74%. That's the biggest savings among the 10 pre-selling books.

Of course a lot of book publishers are worried that this would hurt long-term sales since lowering of the price can sometimes devalue the books. This also affects the usual booksellers since most consumers will be running to Walmart, Amazon and Target to snatch these books at the lowest price especially when the economy is still not unstable and consumers are watching their pockets more carefully.

But I'm pretty sure this price war won't last since the three online retailers still need to make up for the losses that this price war would produce. So before this ends, you should start going to Walmart.com, Amazon.com or Target.com and snatch these books while the prices are still at the lowest.

Hey, I already pre-purchase five (5) of them...