Cross Country by James Patterson, PF

I don't know how detective Alex Cross survives. He gets savagely beaten up, tortured, imprisoned,and shot more times in one book than would seem to be humanly possible. It is difficult to determine if this book is meant to raise the consciousness of North American readers about the tragedies and crises in Africa (Nigeria, Dufur, Sierra Leone) or whether it is novel about a criminal investigation with the customary overtones of conspiracy theory that includes the CIA. AND the ending was a dud.