Cat & Mouse

Originally seen on my book blog!

Alex Cross’s (and mine) worst nightmare is back. Gary Soneji is back with a vengeance and will stop at nothing to get back at Alex Cross for “ruining his life.” Can he be stopped this time? While Alex is trying to stop Gary a second time, there is another killer on the loose, Mr. Smith.

I lied about Soneji being my worst nightmare. Mr. Smith is my worst nightmare. And it’s not particularly close.

I could talk for hours about how much I like Alex Cross. He’s has been one of my favourite characters since I started this series in January. In every book it seems that I find a new thing that I like about him. This book is his humour. I don’t think I realized it before, but he’s funny. And not just show more in a way where I am cracking up and tears are streaming down my face, but in a way where I’m rolling my eyes and thinking “seriously? A dad joke?” or “you’re such a dweeb, Alex”

“Can I see [Rosie, the cat]?”

“Sure can. She’s been asking for you all morning. I don’t know why, but she seems to like you.”

“She knows I’m a cool cat, too.”

Seriously, that’s the best dad joke I’ve heard all month.

Not only is he funny, but he’s a great dad, partner, friend, and basically every relationship he has. Patterson makes Alex’s relationships with his kids so healthy and refreshing. I can tell that Alex loves his kids more than anything and I can tell that they love him. Jannie and Damon are so smart and I love parts of the book that they are in because their dialogue with Alex is witty and fun. Every book I feel like I’m getting closer to Alex’s family because Patterson portrays them so well.

I loved this book because it was fast paced. When I say fast-paced, I mean that I literally could not put this book down because I needed to know what was happening. One thing that was big in this book was the “cat and mouse” effect (now the title makes sense). During the book, Alex is trying to find Soneji and at times he’s not sure if he’s the cat or if he’s the mouse. I think at times he was the cat and at times he was the mouse. It seemed that Soneji knew exactly what Alex was going to do, making Alex the mouse but at times Alex was sure he had a line on Soneji making Alex the cat.

There was another aspect of this book that was… creepy and scary. Mr. Smith was the scariest killer anyone had ever seen. He’s been over America and into Europe and they don’t know how to stop him. Alex, Sampson, and Thomas Pierce were trying to catch him and were definitely the Mouse. They had no idea what Mr. Smith’s next move was going to be until it was too late. They were always the mouse until they simply weren’t and then it was just the fact of finding him which was no easy task. Mr. Smith will probably be showing up in my nightmares during the next few weeks.

Thomas Pierce is an FBI agent who has a special tie with Mr. Smith. Mr. Smith killed Pierce’s girlfriend. He took the case personally and wanted nothing more than to find her killer. I don’t know how I felt about Pierce but that’s because I’m so used to everyone else that I felt weird about a new character. Patterson made him likable and unlikable at different times, and I still haven’t decided how I feel about him.

I do know that I hated Mr. Smith. When I found out who he was, I was shocked. I wasn’t expecting it at all. Maybe my detective skills are not up to par, but I couldn’t believe it. I never would have thought that the killer was who it was and I think Patterson made it known perfectly. There was no better way to do it and I think that’s why it was so shocking.

This book has more romance than the others and surprisingly I liked that portion. Him and Christine are finally going on a date! I love them together and I haven’t quite put my finger on why. Patterson writes them in a way where you just fall in love with them as a couple and want them to run off and get married (or maybe that’s just me?) I can’t wait to see how their relationship grows in the next few books.

If there was one thing that I didn’t think about this book was that it changed POV halfway through. All the other books are through Alex Cross’s eyes, but for some of the book, Thomas Pierce was the eyes and ears of the book and it was a strange transition. It was weird hearing “Alex Cross said” instead of “I said” but after a while, I got more used to it and saw why it was important in the book.

Easily a 5 star rating and I won’t be surprised if it’s at the top of my monthly favourite list for April. I would recommend this to everyone that read the first three books of the series. This is not a series to read out of order and this book will only makes sense (at times) if the first three were read. It also gives away other aspects of the previous books, so it’s very important to read the first three before diving into this one. show less

Another horrifying, yet completely engrossing, story. If there is ever another high-profile serial killer on the loose, let's knock on James Patterson's door first.

I thought it was strange to have two simultaneous killing sprees going on in the book - why not two books? - but it made sense in the structure of the story. I did, for once, guess who both of the bad guys were before their identities were revealed. I'm not sure what that means, but I felt it was worth pointing out.

Even though the writing isn't great, the chapters are ridiculously short, and the plots are gruesome, I devour these books. At least I'm reading, right?

Serial killer, Gary Soneji, is out of jail and looking for revenge on detective Alex Cross. He wants to kill Cross and his entire family. But, before doing so, he is leading up to it with other killings and taunting Cross. Meantime, Cross is attracted to his kids’ principal, but she is hesitant to date someone with his job.

I really liked this one. I remember the name Soneji, but don’t really remember details of him in the other books (this is 4th in the series), but it’s not necessary to remember anything about him to enjoy this one. If there was anything from the previous book(s) I needed to know, I was reminded of it. I liked the potential relationship between Alex and Christine.

Oh boy! another skippable and now I'm having second thoughts about reading the entire series. Again, 3 stars because after all James Patterson knows how to keep the story moving.

Seriously Mr. Patterson, can I call you Jimmy? Jimmy, really? Let's change the plots, intrigues, and endings a little bit, so that we don't see them coming from miles away.

Now, the biggest problem I have with this book are the characters. Many recurrent characters on the series that they add nothing to it. What's the purpose of Sampson? He doesn't help, he doesn't discover anything ever, he's just there to contradict Alex, and he's always wrong.

I give you that the relationship between Alex and Christine seems to be going somewhere and it's hot as hell.

Kind of a high body count, even for an Alex Cross novel, but I liked the developments in his personal life.

Cat & Mouse is a welcome return to the quality of narrative present in the first two books that I felt was missing in the third. That's not to say it's without issues as there are a couple, but for the most part Cat & Mouse is an excellent gripping read.

The issues? Alex tells us that he hasn't felt this way about a woman since his wife died, except he felt that way for Jezzie in the first book and Kate in the second. The other major issue? Mr Smith is killing people all over the world yet an epic logical plot hole is revealed towards the end of the novel that makes absolutely no sense, whilst the FBI knows who it is they let him roam free killing to instead implement an overly complicated plan to capture him red handed, which ultimately show more fails, resulting in a larger body count both before the plans implementation and after its failure.

Asides for those two niggling points, largely it's a good tale that keeps you rooted to your seat ploughing through the pages. show less

Cat and Mouse is my first foray into the world of Alex Cross, a world written by James Patterson. While much better than the Iris Johansen novel I delved into last year, slightly above average is the best I can call this work. If this is an example of his style, I find myself wondering what all the fuss is about over Patterson’s writing.

Let’s go with the good stuff first. While Alex Cross is an ongoing character, and I understand this book comes in late in the series, I had no trouble getting into the feel of the character. Good character development in a short time is not too common. Cross had my empathy after only a short time into the story. Cross has not one but two world-class bad guys to contend with and they were not show more operating as a team. A very nice plot device and it was used effectively. There is gore, this is a murder mystery after all, but no more than is needed to make the point. Good restraint on the author’s part.

With an opening like this, why did it end up being just over middle of the road? Because the big plot twist was not too much of a surprise after all. While not exactly spelled out, it became obvious too quickly. One of the killers appeared to be killing people randomly while the police and the FBI frantically tried to find the pattern. It was there if you read carefully long before it was revealed by Cross. That is not giving the plot away. Cross is the hero, that’s what he’s supposed to do: solve the pattern.

Ironically, what elevated this story from sub-mediocrity was the romantic subplot. I’m not into romance novels, but a well-done truly romantic interlude is difficult to find. One that is not over the top in detail is even more rare. Patterson does not write the erotic scenes Murakami has shown in some of his works, but for a potboiler author, Patterson is very refreshing.

All told, Cat and Mouse made an interesting diversion during my daily commute. Good travel reading and suggested for best-seller / murder mystery lovers. If you prefer more thought in your reading, this book may leave something to be desired. show less