I'm sure that if you try hard enough, you could name at least a few authors who've become a bit boring after a time.
It can't be easy maintaining a popular series year in and year out, while still coming up with fresh ideas.
I admit that I have not followed the Alex Cross series from the very beginning like many of you.
But after seeing two out of the three films based on the character, I jumped on the bandwagon.
The few "Cross" novels that I have read have been entertaining if not brilliant.
What engrossed me about "Merry Christmas, Alex Cross" was not so much the action level.
That is something that I've come to expect from any James Patterson novel.
What kept me up until the wee hours until my eyes started burning was wondering if Alex's family would cut him some slack and let him go about saving lives without feeling guilty.
Don't get me wrong! I sympathize with the Cross household completely.
It's not easy having to watch your loved one going out and placing himself in harms way.
Take the past Christmas Eve as an example.
Things are starting off normally enough in the Cross home.
The holiday excitement is in the air.
The children are clowning around with each other as kids will do.
The tree is getting decorated and Christmas songs from the radio could be heard softly in the background.
Just another normal American family getting set for the big festivities that tomorrow will bring.
And then Alex's cell rings! If you've followed this series for any length of time then you know what that insistent ringing means.
It means that the man of the house will be off saving someone else's family while leaving his own to "enjoy" Christmas Eve without him.
Thousands of real-world cop families can relate.
And it never gets any easier.
This is especially true when Detective Cross has to confront some of the worst criminals and nut-jobs that the Washington D.
C.
area can produce.
What makes Cross so interesting and human is the emotional conflict that is generated within him.
No man, no matter how dedicated to "the job" he may be, can walk out the door leaving family behind and not feel guilty.
He understands fully well what it does to his wife, grandmother and children when he has to leave.
He also understands that no one can do what he does quite as well as he can.
This is not arrogance.
It's just simple acknowledgement of the gift and the calling that he has been granted.
With this calling comes a sense of responsibility that he simply cannot ignore.
And so he goes and does the job that must be done.
Fortunately it doesn't take as long as most situations like this take.
He's home for Christmas Day and gets to enjoy his grandmother's home cooking and the laughter of his kids.
And then the cell rings again.
And it starts all over again.
There is another crazy person out there, attempting to do unthinkable things to innocent people.
That's twice in two days.
He must face another impossible set of circumstances and also face the disappointment reflected in his family's eyes.
Which is worse you may ask yourself? Others who talk about this book will mention how the action kept them turning page after page.
And yes, that was certainly true for me as well.
Things were fast paced which is as it should have been considering that everything had to be squeezed into two days.
But what did it for me was how Patterson portrays the anguish that this sensitive man feels when he is forced to disappoint his family yet again.
His grandmother sheds quite tears in her bedroom when no one is awake.
His wife reminds him that he has other obligations besides his work.
His children become quite and sullen.
No, life doesn't get any easier being one of the country's greatest detectives and profilers.
But it does make for some interesting reading material.