Chianti and Pizza....rrrr
Roses are Red by James Patterson
His girlfriend's dumped him, his daughter's having seizures, and there's some crazy guy out on the streets who hires bank robbers-slash-killers to do unspeakable things. It's no wonder Alex stays out too late on his porch, playing Debussy on his piano.
Maybe he should try some Joplin to cheer himself up.
Roses are Red is the 6th in the Alex Cross series by James Patterson. Cross is a homicide cop in Washington D.C who acts as a liaison between the locals and the FBI while solving exceptionally grisly murders.
In Roses, Cross is pitted against The Mastermind, a no-good nasty who interviews and gets guns for hire. These modern-day Robin Hoods steal from banks (and insurance companies, and other institutions that The Mastermind finds reprehensible), then complete the job according to The Mastermind's elaborate plan. Bank family members who are hostages are killed, bank employees are killed, sometimes no one is killed. After this happy task is completed, The Mastermind serves the robbers/killers a celebratory dinner of poison, wine, and pizza. (Chianti and pizza anyone? rrrrrrrrr.reminds me of yet another nasty guy I've come across before.) They suffer horribly, and The Mastermind then has his way with dead women on the crew. Sounds like a fun date.
Meanwhile back at the Cross abode, Cross's daughter Jannie suffers a seizure after taking a light punch in the head from her brother during the kids' weekly boxing lesson. She's hauled off to the hospital and a brain tumor is discovered. Cross's girlfriend of the last several novels, Christine, decides she is too whacked out after being kidnapped in the last novel (Pop Goes the Weasel) and she dumps Cross, and takes off for other regions. Oh yeah, and she leaves little Alex (her son with Cross), behind with Cross, who lives with his daughter, son, and grandmother.
One more thing.the nutcase who kidnapped Christine a couple of years ago and then escaped? It seems that he's resurfaced and just might be lurking somewhere in the vicinity. His wife in England was murdered in front of her kids in a grocery store, and.
Confused?
If you are picking up Roses are Red to start out your romp through the world of Alex Cross and James Patterson, you probably will be scratching your head incessantly. There are so many unexplained references to happenings from previous books that the reader can get easily lost if they haven't hung out with Cross in the past.
If you've read the Alex Cross series before, you will at least know where you are with the story, but you might be disappointed in this book because of the lack of substance and style.
Roses are Red is the weakest link in the Alex Cross series because Patterson has gone overboard with his choppy, simplistic writing method. Sure, after plowing through Moby Dick or Oliver Twist you might be in the mood for something a little more on the light side, but Roses are Red is so light, it makes a Mary Higgins Clark novel look like a classic.
Patterson writes in non-complex sentences. Patterson also uses simple words in his writing. I read very quickly. I sped through this book at near the speed of sound. He likes short chapters which enhance the choppy feeling of the book. Fortunately, he doesn't accompany this with an annoying overuse of exclamation marks! It's most distressing when you're reading short sentences! Tami Hoag is much better at this than Patterson if you like this style! (I don't!)
The previous Cross books seemed to have (a little) more depth to them; Patterson will never be known as a literary giant, but his books are fun to read if you enjoy murder mysteries that include some odd twists. Unfortunately, Roses are Red wasn't even as deep as a toddler's wading pool. Alex Cross comes across as a rather pitiful, one dimensional character who is running around like a chicken with his head cut off. Other books in the series feature a charming interaction between Cross, his professional counterparts, and family; while there's an attempt in Roses, it just isn't successful.
While I rate Roses are Red as only 3 stars, I'll still recommend for fans of the series. I've a feeling Alex Cross isn't hanging up his hat yet, and we'll need to keep tabs on what is going on in his life. Yes, the man is experiencing burn out, and is thinking about giving up the homicide cop life, but I think Patterson will continue to milk this cash cow for a couple of more books.
Oh and by the way.no spoilers from my review, but I had figured out the ending long before I read the final sentence. Patterson literally waits until the last word of the book to twist that knife a little, perhaps ensuring another book in the series.
