Washing D.C. Police Department officer Alex Cross, John Sampson, and others investigators, march into plastic surgeon Elijah Creem's penthouse where he is illegally giving drugs and having sex (while making porn videos) with teenage girls. This top plastic surgeon, Elijah Creem, is well-known for his skills in the operating room, and for his wild, no-expense-spared “industry parties”. He brings in underage exotic dancers (strippers) and models for nights of drugs, champagne, and unrestrained sex. That is, until Detective Alex Cross busts in on his party and kills Creem’s entire vibe by being arrested. Creem is now scared, vulnerable, and willing to do anything to escape jail time.
But Alex doesn’t have time to settle with that case. A beautiful woman has been found murdered in her car, a piece of her hair viciously ripped off. Then a second woman is found hanging from a sixth-floor window, dripping blood from where she had her stomach slashed. When a third mutilated body is found, rumors quickly spread of three serial killers on the loose and it sends Washington D.C. into panic mode (social movement).
Meanwhile, Ron Guidice, whose fiancé was killed by an officer from MPD, blames Alex for the murder and watches him all day and posts negative comments about Alex at his website, "The Real Deal". He’s a crazy stalker! Alex is under so much pressure to solve these three mysterious yet very interesting cases that he hasn’t noticed that someone else investigating him. Ron Guidice is so obsessed and so twisted that he’ll do anything to get the vengeance that will satisfy himself.
The major sociological themes I found present throughout this novel were crime and deviance. Crime is an action or omission that constitutes an offense that ma...
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...n what was happening as I was reading. The thrill is what kept me hooked and entertained the entire time reading. It was hard to put down the book.
A weakness from the author that I noticed was at times the novel seemed discombobulated because there were four stories occurring at once and there was not a clear transition into each one. But after reading a couple of sentences I was able to figure out what story was present. Also, as I read the story, I know who are the killers but I felt the ‘why’ part was not clearly explained in the end. Though Alex Cross is sharp and passionate about his work but a few times I found his actions quite naive. A few times when the narrative would focus on one particular murder or series of murders, the other ones would seem forgotten, making me wonder what was happening over there. But that is a small fault in the amazing novel.
Alex McKnight is an ex-cop from Detroit, Michigan and moved to Paradise, Michigan because of a traumatic shooting that ended with his partner dead. Once caught the killer named Rose, who was convicted to life in prison but not until after the damage had been done. Alex could not handle to work as a cop anymore, he moved, and started to work as a private investigator for a local lawyer. Although the move seemed to be good at first his friend Edwin soon got him entangled in a murder case.
I found the book to be easy, exciting reading because the story line was very realistic and easily relatable. This book flowed for me to a point when, at times, it was difficult to put down. Several scenes pleasantly caught me off guard and some were extremely hilarious, namely, the visit to Martha Oldcrow. I found myself really fond of the char...
Alex is a very disrespectful and violent teenager. He shows several signs of teenage rebellion that several similarities to the society we live in today. He takes drugs, drinks alcohol, and fornicates with woman against their will. He has no respect for the law and is all around a rebellious kid. He and his “droogs” or group of friends goes around terrorizing the elderly and robbing stores. He then receives a treatment to rid him of his violent acts but this ends up messing with the rest of his life. Alex gets sick every time a violent idea pops into his head along with the beautiful music of Beethoven. He is lucky because the government then removes this sickness from him but unfortunately he goes back to his old mischievous way until he finally realizes he’s grown up.
Sampson, Robert J. "WHITHER THE SOCIOLOGICAl STUDY OF CRIME?" Annual Review of Sociology (2000): 711. Psychology Collection. Web. 19 Dec. 2013.
There were many parts of the book that had me hooked; I couldn’t stop reading no matter what was going on.
At the bank where Alex’s uncle's office had been, an undercover MI6 agent greeted him and said the door was locked. When she left the room to take a phone call, Alex crawled out a
History shows people in ancient times committed crimes which violated social norms and acceptable conduct despite threats of harsh punishment. There are theories regarding causes of crime but that by Emile Durkheim is quite prominent in that anomie arises as result of mismatch between individual or group standards when compared to the acceptable standards of wider society; this mismatch leads to deviance which in turn came from loss of social identity and self-regulation.
There are many views on crime and deviance and many theories to why they occur.
Before the 1950’s theorists focused on what the difference was between deviants and criminals from “normal” citizens. In the 1950’s researchers were more involved exploring meaning and reasons behind deviant acts. This led to the most dominant question in the field of deviance, “what is the structural and culture factors that lead to deviant behavior?” This question is important when studying deviance because there is no clear answer, everyone sees deviance in different ways, and how deviance is created. Short and Meier states that in the 1960’s there was another shift in focus on the subject of deviance. The focus was what causes deviance, the study of reactions to deviance, and the study of rule breaking and rule making. In the 1960’s society was starting to speak out on what they believed should be a rule and what should not; this movement create chaos in the streets. However, it gave us a glimpse into what makes people become deviant, in the case it was the Vietnam War and the government. Short and Meier also write about the three levels that might help us understand were deviance comes from and how people interact to deviance. The first is the micro level, which emphasizes individual characteristics by biological, psychological, and social sciences. The second level is macrosociological that explains culture and
"Sociological Theories To Explain Deviance." Sociological Theories To Explain Deviance. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2013. .
Goode, E. (2011). Constructionist Perspectives of Deviance. Deviant Behavior (Ninth Edition ed., ). Upper Saddle River, NJ : Prentice Hall, Inc..
Adler, Patricia A., and Adler Peter. Constructions of Deviance: Social Power, Context, and Interaction. 6th ed. Belmont: Thomas/Wadsworth, 2009.
This nightly ritual of wreaking havoc, this “same time same place tomorrow” eventually catches up with little Alex. When an attempt to break into an elderly woman’s home for a little bit of “crasting” and some “ultra-violence” goes awry, Alex is apprehended by the millicents an...
In Conclusion, Lulu’s revenge, John Paul’s guilt, and Denny’s lust represents monstrous behavior. This story shows us that all humans are capable of monstrous behavior. Robert Cormier shares the perspective of a killer. Its take us on a journey through the characters’ eyes and shows us that even the innocent can be dangerous and how one event can negatively impact a person’s life.
In this novel Alex shows his freedom of choice between good and evil, which is that, his superiority over the innocent and the weak. In the beginning of the novel he chooses to be evil, he shows us that by committing violence act like stealing, raping, and also murdering an innocent person which he got arrested for and put into prison for about 12 years. The amount violence he commits shows his abuse of power and his decisions toward evil. The violent acts that are described in this novel are very graphical and are intended to shock the reader but they also show that the suppression of others is wrong, because it is destructive to the natural rights of humans. Alex consistently chooses evil and violence to show his freedom of choice, ?Now I was ready for a bit of twenty-to-one . . . then I cracked this veck" pg 7. Alex beats, rapes, and robs the weak and ...