Ali Cross: The Secret Detective (Ali Cross, 3)

Our teenagers waiting for more books out of the series!

Fair story this time. Other series are better. Still like any James Patterson books ready for another women's murder club and Michael Bennett books

We first learned of Ali Cross from the reading list of a Christian homeschool curriculum provider, recommending the first book in the series. While Ali in the first book sometimes evaded his father’s wishes, he was generally a good kid trying to help his friends in sometimes challenging circumstances. This time around, the family-friendliness of the story has deteriorated. Ali is constantly disobeying his father (and largely getting away with it). The one time he declines a friend’s urging to break the rules, it’s by a hair and seems to turn more on fear of legal consequences than on concern for his father’s or great-grandmother’s wishes (or for safety). And the language has turned foul; “damn” and “hell,” as well as other profanities, are sprinkled liberally throughout, unlike the previous two books. The primary topic of the book is the argument over whether policing is a benefit or a detriment to a community, with vignettes of police shootings interspersed with officers (and would-be detective Ali) providing (non-violent) help, as well as criminal mischief. Ali is involved in a debate—awkwardly, facing off against a girl that he likes—over the topic, which gains attention in the community beyond the school. Ali, as a detective’s son and the “pro-cop” debater, faces antagonism from schoolmates, which friends help him navigate. Given that the debate seems to be the focal point of the book, it’s oddly brief in the actual presentation, with only limited points on either side. The story is fast-paced, with 43 chapters for 253 pages. Readers will feel the tensions of middle-school life, where doing the right thing isn’t always safe or enjoyable and picking your battles isn’t always up to you. Ali also sees adults who prove that nonviolent courage can be powerful. Hopefully, he’ll start to realize that rules are generally there for good reasons.

This is the third book in this series. Ali has been playing detective in the middle of the night. His friend Gabe has developed an app that scans police radio calls. It flags these calls in their neighborhood. Ali and his friends show up in hopes to crack the case themselves. As you can guess Dad and Nana Mama aren’t as fooled as Ali thinks. He gets busted time and again. Still he can’t resist just one more call. Until he witnesses the one that makes him question if he has what it takes to follow in his dad’s footsteps. While he is dealing with their late night high jinxs. He is feeling the pressure at school. A young gang member was shot by a police officer. And Ali is facing a lot of harassment at school. Like him being a cop’s son is going to be able to fix things. Since he can see all the sides of this tension and feels he sympathizes with them all he is being pulled apart. Somehow he gets picked to debate this. With him representing “the police.” And the girl he is crushing on representing “the people.” And everyone shows up on the big day. Everyone is there including the police chief, the police commissioner and more. This is a fast paced book that I could not put down. Before I knew it it was 5:00 am. I love how we see this young man grow. He still has the drive and curiosity but he is also a deep thinker. The audiobook was narrated by Zeno Robinson. He has given Ali just the right timbre to his voice. I must admit that I listened to this book more than read. His voice just swept me away.

My grandmother really ejoys this series. Fast shipping