Roses Are Red

A terrific, humanized, police procedural that picks up soon after "Pop Goes the Weasel" leaves off. Christine is traumatized by her ordeal by the Weasel though her little boy with Alex is the apple of everyone's eye. Still, Alex is still a detective and works the streets and his personal life has to pay a price.

The premise is a series of bank robberies where sometimes hostages, sometimes bank employees, are shot. And the reader is in the mind of the robbers as well as The Mastermind, the evil human being who selects the robbers and plans the murders. There is a repetitive counting and exactness for the timing of each robbery that makes the psychological bent of the killers and the Mastermind the forefront of the episodes.

And then show more shortly after each robbery is a twist. And a woman is attacked by the Mastermind. And still some clues just don't lead to any results. It is one of those mysteries that did not take pity on anyone, hostage or bank robber alike, and just when things couldn't get worse, they do. Till the very end where a clue just leaps off the page and gets the reader ready for the next book! show less

While a bank is being robbed, the manager’s family is being held hostage. If they don’t get their money in a set amount of time, the family will be killed. They get their money, but within a minute the family is killed, anyway. Alex Cross is working with the FBI on this one. Then it happens again, but this time, bank employees are killed and the family is left alive. Someone called “The Mastermind” is behind it, with the help of others (who mostly don’t last long themselves).

This is a really good series. It is dark and violent, though. I am often not as interested in the sections/chapters (in most books) from the “bad guy’s” POV, but this one was good. Maybe the psychology of it made it more interesting to me? Parts of show more Alex’s personal life was interesting and other parts I wasn’t as concerned about; in any case, there was some forward movement on that part of his life, as well. And yup – the end was definitely a surprise! show less

Roses are Red, another Alex Cross thriller another five stars. Every outing for Cross seems to be even better than the last one with plenty of unexpected twist and turns. Patterson really knows how to write the proverbial page turner. Every reader cannot help but to be invested in Alex Cross and his family.

There have been a number of brilliantly planned and executed bank robberies all of which end in murder. Cross has been brought in by the FBI to find the killer or killers. Cross doing this job feels the strain that it not only puts on him but also his family.

Cross has to enter the world of a very sadistic psychopath who seems very well prepared for whatever he does. Whoever it is certainly knows how law enforcement works especially show more the FBI as if they have the inside track. Whoever the mastermind is they are certainly a head of the curve. The crime mastermind is constantly taunting Cross and the FBI, and the team cannot seem to catch a break. When the taskforce think that they have the mastermind in their sights he seems to disappear from view.

While the robberies continue Cross has to face some very personal crises within his own personal and family life. His daughter is found to have a brain tumour and the whole family are devasted. His relationship with Christine Johnson has broken down completely with the added complication that she is the mother of little Alex his son.

This is a brilliant thriller which keeps you on edge throughout the book. Patterson has managed to keep everything so fresh. show less

“I told the truth and shamed the devil.”

I know why I didn't love this and others did. I'm reading these completely out of order (or in no kind of order) and the personal chapters about the kids and the significant others....they are just lost on me while others love the updates. I also know that I like these books so much more as audio books.

But the story is interesting - bank robberies that are pulled of with exactness down to the second - and where so die and others don't. I liked getting to know the detectives and I liked the sprint of the story - how it jumped from short chapters tied to the family and then short chapters all about the robberies, the pursuit of the Mastermind and Alex Cross struggling to slip sleep and food in show more between it all. I did enjoy the mystery even if I'd guessed the who well before the reveal. show less

Five stars just because you will not see the ending coming. It may not be for everyone, but this is a must, must read if you got into the Alex Cross series.

The rest is well known. A fast pace thriller that will keep you turning pages and at the edge of your seat. Very standard for the Alex Cross series, but this one is one of the best so far (I still got a bunch of them to read).

There are things that I don't like in this book and pissed me off, but that's what good books do. They bring you in the same ride as the main character, and you can feel what they feel. You may not like what happens, but you'll feel it anyway.

Now, I'm heading to the next one full of hope. Let's see.

A couple of friends have been recommending Patterson to me for ages, so when I saw this and the sequel - Violets are Blue - together in a charity shop i picked up the pair. Patterson writes in short, punchy chapters and vivid detail, and i flew through the book, pulled forward by the pace. It was, however, an entirely unsatisfying experience. The writing is incredibly formulaic - detective battling personal problems? check. the only man who can solve the case? check? increasing complications in his life? check.

Turning the last page, confronted with the twist and cliffhanger ending, I found I had absolutely no interest in the characters or how things turned out, so both books went right back to the charity shop.

Perhaps this isn't show more representative of Patterson's work but, given the rate he churns them out, I suspect it is, and this left me with no interest in investigating his books further. show less

Why is it that everyone Alex Cross loves or trusts ends up screwing him in the end? I considered the guy who's the Mastermind as a villain in earlier books but that went by the wayside...guess he didn't. I fully expect one of Alex's kids to grow up to be a killer in one of the higher number editions of this series...that's just how it seems to go...