Roses Are Red

Our detective hero battles a criminal who calls himself "the Mastermind", while he looses one girlfriend and gains another while balancing family drama. Cooperation among police agencies is mythical--everyone plays nice. Alex has had sooo many girlfriends that one wonders what will happen to this one? The ending is a masterful twist.

Whilst this is 412 pages it's actually quite a quick read with the numerous chapter breaks and line spacing. As for the story itself, it's good, a nice change from the standard fare of serial killer that have been the focus of the last few books. Whilst the perpetrator does in fact orchestrate the murder of numerous people, they're not a serial killer in the classic sense of such.

The writing itself, whilst not plentiful for a 400 page book, does crisply convey the story and its several twists and turns in a way that's easy to read and rather captivating. The ending itself is quite a cliffhanger that leaves you basically needing to read the follow up book Violets are Blue to see if you made sense of it in the way the author show more intended.

Overall, a very good addition to the series. show less

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

I had read this years ago and re-read it recently. Good page turner, and I like the Alex Cross character and the villain. Yet, reads it's written for teenagers- like a cartoon book. OK for a summer light reading thing.

Alex is still celebrating his partial victory from Pop Goes the Weasel, when another terrible crime happens. Someone, calling himself the Mastermind, has been robbing banks, killing hostages and their families, and his partners.

Not only is Alex trying to solve there brutal murders as the numbers increase and the pattern changes, but his personal life is spiraling out of control. Christine is keeping her distance, his daughter is sick, and he may have growing feelings for an FBI agent on the case.

I really enjoyed this book. Years ago, this was my first James Patterson ever read, but for some reason I don’t remember much, which was good because everything was fresh in my mind and more surprising. I’m not really counting it as a show more re-read since I didn’t remember the premise. 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