CROSS By James Patterson

Published : 2006
Pages : 436
Overall Mark : 7.5/10

When a series of sexual attacks take place throughout Washington, Alex Cross finds himself having to come out of retirement from the FBI to help investigate the terrible crimes. He is asked to use his skills as a psychologist to try to get any of the victims to describe their attacker, and to explain why all the victims are so afraid to talk to the police about the assaults. Alex soon finds that there are mob connections to the attacks and a possible link to the unsolved murder of his own wife many years before…

I do enjoy James Patterson’s books – the chapters are so short they make the perfect light-read on the way to and from work. Once again Patterson has managed to keep me engrossed until the final page, and this time around he’s really gone all out with the violence, something he usually would keep to a psychological level. Probably not as good as some of his previous offerings, such as Kiss The Girls, but far better than The Big Bad Wolf.

THE RUINS By Scott Smith

Published : 2007
Pages : 528
Overall Mark : 7/10

While on holiday in Cancun, four American tourists, Eric, Jeff, Amy and Stacy meet some Greek and German tourists. The German tourist, Mathias, invites them to help find his brother who has gone missing while investigating some ancient ruins. The Americans and one of the Greeks agree to join him in his search but, once they arrive at the ruins, they find themselves being held prisoner by the local Mayan tribe, who refuse to let them leave the hill where the ruins lie. As they discover that the previous visitors have all been killed, seemingly by the tribe, they slowly begin to fear for their lives!

Although this starts off very slowly, I stuck with it at the recommendation of a friend, and I'm glad I did. Although predominently a downbeat piece with everything really going from bad to worse for the characters, I found myself chuckling about many of the scenarios, even using the terms "nazi.. boyscout" in everyday conversation. This is definitely not the best book I've ever read, but it does have a lot going for it in terms of entertainment value.