Jack and Jill is the third book in James Patterson’s Alex Cross series. Being the third book in the series, this book hits the ground running from the first page, and introduces two separate murder cases, both chilling in their own way. On one hand, detective Alex Cross must deal with a child murderer at his son’s school. On the other hand, he must hunt down Jack and Jill who are killing political figures and celebrities.
Jack and Jill by James Patterson / Buy on Amazon US / Buy on Amazon UK / Buy on Bookshop
About Jack and Jill
Author: James Patterson
Publication Date: September 1996
Publisher: Little Brown and Company
Pages: 512
Summary
By now, Alex Cross is a respected detective, taking down some of the most deranged psychopaths in the country, including Gary Soneji and Cassanova. He’s somewhat of a celebrity in Washington D.C. But when a child’s body is found outside the Sojourner Truth School, it’s clear that a child killer is striking a little too close to home. This case becomes personal to Cross because he can imagine the child being one of his own. His son also attends the very same school.
Meanwhile, a male and female duo calling themselves Jack and Jill take out a States Senator and videotape it. Cross is asked by the commissioner and the Chief of Detectives to work on the high-profile Jack and Jill case, but he is reluctant, stating that he has a connection with the Truth School killing and wishes to solve it instead. In the end, Alex Cross has no choice but to leave the Truth School Killer case behind and focus on the Jack and Jill murders. This leads cross to call upon his detective friends to secretly work on the Truth School Murders.
My Thoughts
Jack and Jill turns the Alex Cross series up a notch by introducing political elements. At only three books into the series, Alex Cross is already in the White House on a detail to protect the president. It’s incredible to see this growth for Cross, because he’s now a celebrity in his city after taking down a number of high-profile criminals. But it does make me wonder just how much further his merits will take him throughout this lengthy series.
As with many Patterson books, Jack and Jill‘s plot and structure are butter smooth. I would even go as far as to say that the pacing is the best out of the first three books. Even back in 1996, James Patterson was an industry leader with page-tuners.
This book provides a thrilling reading experience that reaches a high-peaking moment. An argument can be made that the comedown from this peak is a little too steep. The first half of this book is a rollercoaster ride full of moments, as Jack and Jill contend with the Truth School Killer for the number one threat in the country. This sinister competition is one-sided, as the Jack and Jill killers clearly have their own unique motives. But the Truth School Killer wants his work sensationalized. He makes it clear that he’s after notoriety, and that Jack and Jill are stealing his spotlight.
The book reaches its peak when Jack and Jill take out their biggest target. The big kill they’ve been planning all along. It’s an incredibly written segment that really puts you in the moment, allowing you to visualize the chaos that would ensue. It’s a moment in the story that is so standout, that the book can never match that level of intensity again. Not even with the reveal of who Jack and Jill really are.
One thing James Patterson does well is giving you a glimpse into the minds of the killer. As with the previous Alex Cross books, the chapters told from Cross’ point of view are all in first-person. But there are also chapters from the perspective of other characters that are told in the third-person. Perspective-switching like this is not a common tactic and it takes a brilliant writer to pull it off. In this case, switching does wonders for the storytelling. Gives us a clear view of the killer’s plans and motivations, followed by Alex Cross’ reactions to them. The chapters that are written from the perspective of the killers do a great job of not revealing too much, keeping the reader guessing the true identity of the killers.
In Kiss the Girls, it was revealed to the reader that book one antagonist Gary Soneji had broken out of prison and was back on the streets. This knowledge adds another dimension to Jack and Jill as we’re left wondering if the Truth School Killer is Gary Soneji. I won’t spoil the outcome, but I will say that Patterson is doing a wonderful job building an archnemesis to challenge Cross.
Alex Cross is respected as a character for the psychological understanding, and empathy he deploys in his detective work. And although we read these books to be put into the center of a criminal mystery, a book cannot go without giving us some thread of character development.
In Jack and Jill, we see Alex Cross get emotional when looking at the body of a murdered child. Imagining the body as one of his own children. We see him fight his police chief over his decision-making. We see him regard the president of the United States with the utmost respect. And we also see him in a moment of emotional vulnerability.
Since the murder of his wife—an event that happened before the beginning of the series—Cross has had a slew of failed relationships. In Along Came a Spider, he believed he was in love with Jezzie Flannigan and ended up getting double-crossed. In Kiss the Girls, he builds a strong bond with Kate McTiernan, but the two of them decide that they cannot be together. In Jack and Jill, Alex Cross develops a crush on the headmistress of the Sojourner Truth school. The very same school his son attends. Her name is Christine Johnson, and unfortunately for Cross, she’s a married woman.
In a moment of weakness, we see Alex Cross drop in on Christine Johnson at her home one lonely night. He does in fact have a valid reason to check-in on her, with a killer being on the loose around her school. And it’s through this random check-in that we see just how damaged Cross is. He knows there is something missing in his life, and he’s subconsciously aware that the murder of his wife is still a wound that hasn’t fully closed.
Cross handles himself with class in Christine Johnson’s home, but his longing for companionship and his attraction to Christine Johnson is made clear. And this scene comes back around full circle with some of the events that play out later in the story.
Patterson leaves us with enough interesting character development for us to be wondering about the future of our series protagonist.
Summary
Jack and Jill reaches a whole new level of intensity with its two concurrent murder mysteries. The cases are paced far better than in previous books, and the book features a moment that may be difficult to outdo in later books. We also get a look into the psyche of series protagonist Alex Cross, and a tease of things to come.
While Jack and Jill touches on political destabilization and the people who want to cripple a certain political party, I feel that because of everything else going on in this book, it only lightly touches its most interesting themes. This book made me want to see Patterson put his foot on the gas and go full speed into a political espionage thriller. Enough threads were left open in this book to lead me to believe that we’ll see these elements return to the series.
With this book, James Patterson proved once again why he became the leader of the fast-paced page-turner. I’ve you’ve read the first two books already, then you absolutely should read Jack and Jill.
