Another day, another Alex Cross adventure. This time, Alex Cross is back in Washington DC where a duo calling themselves Jack and Jill go up the Hill… to kill, to kill, to kill…
Jack & Jill (Alex Cross #2)
Author: James Patterson
Format: Audiobook
Length: 12 hours (approx)
Read by: Ron Butler & Maxwell Hamilton
Originally Published: September 28, 1996
Original Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
View on Goodreads
Date Completed: June 11, 2024
My rating: 
Thoughts
I have to say that I’m having a fun time going through the Alex Cross series via audiobook. And although Along Came a Spider and Kiss the Girls were re-reads for me, this is first time reading Jack & Jill. Or any other Alex Cross book, for that matter.
Like the books before it, this book has two main storylines that (sort of) intermingle toward the climax of the book.
The main storyline, and the one the book is named after, is revolves around two killers. They are killing high-profile celebrities in DC, seemingly (and pretty much) at random. There’s a senator, an actress, and a TV news anchor. Their ultimate target is the President of the United States. The Secret Service suspects this is the case early on as the President’s and First Lady’s call signs are Jack and Jill, respectively.
Jack and Jill (the killers) leave behind notes and videos and we learn that the target of the President is intended to be dramatic and highly publicized to make a statement about the state of the country.
The other story line follows the Truth School Murders. As it happens, these murders are happening at the school Cross’s son attends. These particular murders are especially sad when it is revealed who the killer is.
The connection between these two storylines works pretty well and adds a little more drama to the story. However, the fact that the two murder sprees are happening at the same time and how the climax of the Jack and Jill story turns out requires some suspension of disbelief in an otherwise not completely unbelievable story.
From an audiobook standpoint, this was an interesting way to do it. We got two readers; one who read the Alex Cross sections (those in first-person narrative) and one who read the other sections. I actually like this format a lot, but I’ve only experienced it once before when listening along as I read The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan. In this case, both readers did a great job and I’d be sold on them for future installments.
Overall, I liked this book more than Kiss the Girls, and maybe not quite as much as Along Came a Spider. Therefore I split the difference and gave this 3 out of 5 stars.
