James Patterson usually entertains me. Some might not be a fan of his writing or find it quality work, but when I read mass printed paperbacks, I’m just looking to be entertained. So, as another option found on the beach house bookshelf, I couldn’t really pass it up.

Patterson has a few serial characters that he continues to develop and one is Alex Cross, an African-American detective with three kids and his grandmother. Through the novels we’ve seen Alex develop relationships, solve crimes and for me, become interested in his family. This novel takes a slightly different point of view in that it’s a novel about a novel about the Cross family history in the South – Mississippi.

It did have a _To Kill A Mockingbird_ feel to it and it did sort of bring out the same kind of stories of the struggles of the blacks in a horribly racist and inhumane part of Mississippi. These stories need to be retold as often as possible to remind us of where we have come as a society and where we still need to go.

I read it quickly and easily. I was moved and at the same time bored with the story. No real reason why….

More to come…

-T