Rating: 
Summary: Cross Takes a Bite Out of Vampires
Review: 'Violets are Blue', by James Patterson, picks up where the previous novel, 'Roses are Red', in the Alex Cross series leaves off: Cross is visiting the murder scene of a close friend. From there, Cross is drawn into a bizarre case engrossing dozens of murders around the country. On top of that, Cross continues to be hounded by the self-proclaimed Mastermind, who continues to threaten Cross and everyone who is dear to him.The bizarre case mentioned earlier is a string of murders in which the victims have been bitten by humans, and sometimes, apparently tigers. The bodies then appear to have been drained of all blood. The conclusion of the authorities is that some demented people are taking their vampire fantasies a little too far. 'Violets are Blue' faces a serious challenge. This novel is the follow up to 'Roses are Red', in which the identity of the Mastermind has been revealed. In addition, the identity of the killers in the vampire murder spree is identified early on. So, there is no real suspense generated as Cross tries to discern the identity of the killers. However, the 'real vampires' aren't like anything that has appeared in an Alex Cross novel yet. I found them more creepy than suspenseful, but there were times when I was on the edge of my chair waiting to see what happened next. Tackling the occult was an interesting choice for Patterson. It was a nice change from every murderer being a super-genius though. In my opinion, the best part of the novel was the last fourth, when Cross really gets to work on bringing down the Mastermind. For fans that have read the Cross series up to this point, some interesting revelations about the series are made. The pursuit of the Mastermind here, in a third of the space, is at least as entertaining as the pursuit of the vampires in the rest of the novel. One change I would like to see for future Alex Cross novels: nearly every novel involves a villain that is either a copy of works for the federal government, isn't this motiff getting tired? How surprised can the characters, or the readers be to find out that someone on the inside has betrayed them at this point? After 'Roses are Red', I felt that this novel was a bit of a let down. Patterson has become a victim of his own success. The earlier novels in the series were done so well, that anything that doesn't meet that high standard appears sub-par, even if it is a good novel in its own right. Patterson teases the reader with some changes to come in the series at the end of the novel, that if implemented, could breathe new life into the series. I'd recommend this novel to any fan of the Cross series. For those that aren't familiar with the series, I would suggest picking up the earlier novels first and catching up before tackling this one. I'd like to give this novel 3 and 1/2 stars, but since that isn't possible, I'll give it four.
Rating: 
Summary: TERRIBLE!
Review: I've only read a handfull of James Patterson's books and have to say that none of them strike me as "can't put them" down reads. This one takes the cake though!!! What a waste of time....
Rating:
Summary: Dude; get a fact checker.
Review: "Eating at a diner in Woodland Hills, just off the 5 freeway"?
The 5 is nowhere near Woodland Hills. Try the 101. And stop making each chapter 6 pages long, and ending in a SHOCK. It reads like Nancy Drew.
Rating: 
Summary: Frustrated and disappointed read
Review: I have read all of the Alex Cross novels and I must say that "Violets are Blue" is frustrating to read and not up to par with the other Cross novels. The biggest frustration centers around the Mastermind. I was disappointed with the way "Roses are Red" ended and was looking forward to having the matter resolved quickly with Violets are Blue. Instead, the reader is lead through several anti-climatic scenes with the Mastermind getting close to dealing with Cross, but then deciding the "time wasn't right." Gimme a break! Each chapter seems to rehash the same type of suspense that goes nowhere and leaves the reader plowing through another endless chapter of mayhem, gore and another budding romance between Cross and another female. Read it, seen it, tired of it! I love Cross' character, but Patterson does him a disservice with this storyline. What else could happen to this man! I for one will continue to look forward to more novels, but I am leary and disappointed that Mr. Patterson has gone into the mass market, cookie cutter manner of writing. Take a break Mr. Patterson and write the next Cross novel with better care and respect for the character and your many readers.
Rating:
Summary: TERRIBLE!
Review: I've only read a handfull of James Patterson's books and have to say that none of them strike me as "can't put them" down reads. This one takes the cake though!!! What a waste of time....
Rating:
Summary: Dude; get a fact checker.
Review: "Eating at a diner in Woodland Hills, just off the 5 freeway"?
The 5 is nowhere near Woodland Hills. Try the 101. And stop making each chapter 6 pages long, and ending in a SHOCK. It reads like Nancy Drew.
Rating:
Summary: Sadistic garbage
Review: What's with the trend for crime to occur in the most horrific ways possible? Here it's vampires. Add the poor writing and you're better off skipping this and reading anothr book.
Rating:
Summary: Only Mystery Here is How It Got Published
Review: I rarely write a review of a book I dislike, but if I can warn a single person away from this book, the effort will be worth it. "Violets Are Blue" was so predictable, so poorly written, and so shamelessly padded, I was almost laughing. I was reminded of the time in high school when I was given an assignment to write 2000 words about some topic, I can't remember what. Well, I wrote the paper, but when I counted the words, I was less than half way to the 2000 word total. So I spent hours adding in extraneous material any way I could to bloat the paper to the requisite length. Patterson has done the same thing to two (flimsy) mysteries stories and rolled them into one. Both mysteries are so predictable that if you can't figure out the bad guy before detective Alex Cross does, you might think about switching to reading romance novels. One manhunt goes from city to city throughout the U.S. so that Patterson can add paragraphs of flimsy local color, including street directions to every scene, local restaurants (where I'm sure Patterson will dine for free from now on), etc. In neither mystery does Cross actually DETECT. The bad guy is simply the last suspect standing. A shameless padder, Patterson gives a plot summary for every one of his previous books and phones all the (living) key characters from them. And every other chapter is a warm, touching slice of his family life. Which has nothing to do with the plot, but sets the reader up for the next book in the series. I liked "Along Came A Spider". Since then, Patterson has obviously decided it's less work to be a hack than a good writer, and the pay is the same.
Rating:
Summary: A very good entry to the Alex Cross series
Review: As opposite to many viewers, I actually find this entry a very enjoyable one. As a veteran fan of Alex Cross, and after reading more than once for each entry in the whole series, I must say that Violets Are Blue are quite unique in several ways.
First, the focus on vampire-like murders make me feel like reading a crossover with X-file/Buffy. Second, Cross and Jamila weres in many moments too close to Mastermind that you would really feel worry about them. Third, the ending is a real twist and it makes me unstoppable to turn the pages to know what will happen. Finally, this entry almost signify the end of Cross's life in Washington PD migrating to FBI. Another good thing about Cross series is that, once you are hooked to them, the characters (Nana, Sampson, Christine, Jamila, ...... are just so real that they all like part of your life)
Rating:
Summary: Irrelevant Ending
Review: The sequel to Roses are Red. You are advised to read Roses are Red before starting on Violets are Blue. Entertaining book, but the clues dropped along the way aren't enough to identify the murderer.
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