Poor Alex Cross, he just can never catch a break. Following on the heels of Roses are Red, which introduced The Mastermind, a particularly vicious psychopathic serial killer, Violets are Blue opens with the villain hot on Cross’ tale, out to destroy Cross and everything he holds dear.
In the midst of dodging The Mastermind’s disturbing phone calls, and trying to keep family and friends safe, Cross must uncover the murderers behind a series of gruesome and chilling vampire murders that span both East and West coasts and a dozen years.
Added to all this is the conclusion Cross eventually reaches of The Mastermind being a close, dear and trusted friend and co-worker. Betrayal is but one emotion Cross must overcome.
In typical Patterson style, the book jumps from plot to plot, mixing in a bunch of memories of characters, criminals and crimes from the previous six books. I think I’m finally getting the essence of these novels, in that they’re meant to be Cross’ memoirs of the cases he’s worked, and so they read a little bit like the meanderings of the mind, jumping from subject to subject … or perhaps that’s too deep an analysis of what are nothing more than poorly written books. I hope for better when I read an Alex Cross, and so I search long and hard for it amongst the cheesiness of Patterson’s phraseology.
Violets are Blue was, for me, the worst Cross book yet. It was a boring read, one I struggled to get through. The crimes and criminals lacked the usual thrill-ride I associate with the Cross books, making lackluster writing even more difficult to stomach. The book does end however with Cross’ decision to finally give up police work. Will he? Won’t he? What will the next book be about if Cross is no longer a detective? It’s this kind of investment I now have in the character that will keep me reading, mores the pity.
Till next time, happy reading!
L J
| TBR = 22 | WPL = 27 |
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