Ali’s desire to become a much respected detective like his father (Alex Cross) still burns brightly inside him. His friend Gabe has developed an app that feeds into local police radio, sending texts and notifications to Ali at all times, day and night. This allows Ali to follow his passion as he and Gabe observe crimes in progress.

There are many gangs in their area and tensions are high between them and the police. This tension steps up a notch when a gang member is shot by an officer.

This kicks off a wave of unrest that has been bubbling under the surface of their community for some time. Unfortunately as the son of a well known cop, Ali is hit with the backlash of this, at school, outside his home and even in church. When asked what he actually thinks and which side he is on:

Police – doing their job fighting crime

or

Community – who believe police shoot first, ask questions later

he is pressed to make a choice.

With a detective for a dad and knowing other officers, Ali struggles with all of the anger against the police force, but he knows the community is right too, in many situations.

When he finally gets to have his say, he knows this is his chance to try and heal at least a tiny bit of the hurt in his neighbourhood.

No. 3 in this series, this episode explores the very real tension between police and the communities they serve. Many police officers misuse their authority and also judge-before-they-know, resulting in shootings of people, often those who are innocent of any crime.

Main character Ali aspires to be a member of the police force and is caught between the hurt and anger of his neighbourhood, and the good work he knows his detective father and his colleagues perform.

Thought provoking.

Author – James Patterson

Age – 12+

Read a review of other Ali Cross novels (Click on a Cover)

(2022, Penguin Random House, Series, Police, Cop, Police Brutality, Shoot first ask questions later, Police shooting, Drime, Gangs, Community, Protest, School, Debate, Discussion, Anger, Danger, Guns, Homeless, Family, Nana, Grandmother)