Rating: 
Summary: disappointed in Patterson
Review: An avid fan since the beginning, I was disappointed in Four Blind Mice. First, the death penalty nonsense. In N.J., it's been years since they executed anyone. Patterson does it in weeks. I haven't seen this kind of silly stereotyping of crazy Vietnam vets since the seventies. I'm very familiar with Bayhead, and I doubt this army widow could ever afford a beach house with a view. Patterson couldn't even decide if the victims were innocent or guilty. I would think with so many bodies some police, military or civilian would be interested. It's a shame Patterson has gone so overboard with Alex Cross that he's setting up politically correct uncaring white establishment types as villains. I was particularly pained by "the hippy white girl " who spit on Samson as a returning vet.
Rating: 
Summary: Too much carving knife - not enough cheeze!
Review: James Patterson may write the shortest chapters of any modern novelist. He also uses a lot of large type and white space to stretch a book out to buyable size. He hasn't always done this, but he is doing it now. This was a okay read, notwithstanding those shortcomings. There are three assasins loose who are killing people and framing former Viet Nam veterans for their murders with fantastic success and considerable delight in their skill at bloodletting. D.C. Detective Alex Cross agrees to look into one such situation at the request of his best friend John Sampson. He views it as his last case as retirement is on the horizon. While investigating, they become convinced of the frameup, but have no idea who is doing it or why. We, the readers know who, yet we don't know why either. As it turns out the Three Blind Mice don't know why they are being asked to kill and frame these men, except that it is a very profitable line of work and allows them to continue much of what they did in the service as Rangers. It is the fourth "blind mouse" who has the answers and finding out his identity is about the only real mystery in the book. Both protagonists in the book have love interests as a secondary story line which adds a few more pages, but little to the story. I'd wait for paperback on this one.
Rating:
Summary: Fast and Unsatisfying
Review: This is a very fast, unsatisfying read that left me feeling somewhat disappointed. It is a very routine story of Alex Cross and John Sampson and their attempt to free a falsely accused friend of Sampson's, awaiting execution for three brutal murders he didn't commit. We know he didn't commit them because the real killers are introduced in Chapter 2. However, they are taking orders from a mysteriously, powerful figure that Alex and Sampson spend the rest of the book trying to identify. Along the way, throw in a love interest, some violent murders, a little sex, a family illness, and a visit to an isolation cell deep within the bowels of a maximum seurity prison to visit a killer from previous novels and you have a staccato-paced, disjointed, "cookie-cutter" beach read with few surprises and many thoughts of "huh?" If I had it to do over again, and felt compelled to read this most recent effort by James Patterson(because I'm a Patterson fan and want desperately for him to pull out of his writing tailspin), I'd wait for the paperback or try to check it out of the library. Don't say you weren't warned though. FOUR BLIND MICE is a very average book.
Rating: 
Summary: Always a goody with Patterson
Review: Another good Alex Cross. Partner Sampson comes alive in this thriller. Great villans and a good story line had me through this one quickly. Alex, ready to pack it in, keeps in the game til the end.
Rating: 
Summary: He's back!
Review: Alex Cross is on the verge of resigning from the D.C. police
when childhood buddy and partner, John Sampson comes to him for
assistance. Sampson's friend has been framed and accused of
killing three Army wives on an Army Post, so Alex and Sampson
set out to prove he's been set up. In their research, they're
faced with the brick wall of silence and lack of cooperation
from the military, numerous similar murders, and they even end
up the targets of the military trained killers. In this book, we're immediately told who the killers are, but in
true James Patterson fashion, we're left sitting on the edge of
our seats as we learn why they're killing, leaving clues behind
and painting the bodies red, white or blue. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and felt the suspense was
masterfully drawn in a manner that encourages you to continue
reading until the last sentence. Unlike the previous Alex Cross
books, this one gave us more of a look inside the lives of Sampson and Nana Mama and that coupled with the suspense puts
this at the top of my reading list for 2002. Reviewed by Tee C. Royal
Rating:
Summary: The body count almost equals the number of chapters
Review: In this thriller, at the urging of his old friend John Sampson, Alex Cross gets involved in the investigation of a series of grisly murders. The book opens as Alex and John Sampson try to prove the innocence of an old buddy of Sampson's, who's on death row for a grisly murder of three women in North Carolina. We follow Alex and John through a series of new murders as they try to find the killers and their motive. This was the first Alex Cross mystery I've read. I can see that other reviewers liked some of the previous Alex Cross novels better than this one. I found the unravelling of the mystery to be credible, but I was somewhat appalled by the large number of murder victims who were "collateral damage." I can't recall a mystery I've read recently with more dead bodies in it. I found the short chapters somewhat irritating, as there was very little character development that occurred in this story. I might go back and read the earlier Alex Cross stories. This one certainly assumed that the reader had a lot of background information on Alex's old cases.
Rating:
Summary: Great for treadmill
Review: The book is as good as the other Patterson books. I especially liked the military aspect of it. The characters are continued from earlier books so if you've read previous books, the story continues. I listened to it while on the treadmill and found myself looking forward to it.
Rating: 
Summary: Finished in one day is not always a compliment
Review: I've read all the Alex Cross series, so I obviously was looking forward to the latest. If I could have had a choice on getting the lastest sooner, or wait another year for a book that was actually worth reading, I would have rather wait another year. The story plot was one of the most predictable reads I have ever read. The characters where predictable and boring. If I had to read one more time about what Alex thought of his girlfriend's kisses, I think I would have screamed. The trip to the jail to ask advice from death row inmates. . . I can't imagine what Patterson was thinking when he put out this book, but I can say, even though I've read all the other Cross novels, I'm not anxious for the next.
Rating:
Summary: Following Alex Cross's Career
Review: having read all the Alex Cross mysteries from Along Came A Spider to Four Blind Mice, i'm realizing something...Cross's career climaxed at Roses Are Red. The following books really havent done much for me. I picked up Four Blind Mice upon its November release date and here it is mid-January and i'm just now finishing it. it was a painful read because i couldnt get into it. the short chapters have never been a problem, its the lack of character-depth, lack of mystery, the graphic description of the senseless murders--especially to the women, and once the big mystery was revealed it was like: okay...and? I thought nothing in this series would be worse than Violets Are Blue. At this point, I cant tell if "4 Blind Mice" is the title or author!
Rating:
Summary: Better than the last one - not quite right again
Review: I think people are being a little hard on Mr. Patterson's new book. This was a very fast read, which I liked - but it did lack some of the twist and turns. I think it was a good book that I have and will recommend. I think some people have come to expect a bit more from Mr. Patterson every time he picks up a pen. They can't all be "the best" book he has ever written. I am still a fan and I still love Alex, Nana, and Sampson and I am developing a like for Jam as well. The personal side of his novels is what keeps me coming back. This book does deliver that. I do miss the days of "Cat and Mouse" but this book was not at all bad. I think some people need to understand that authors are still normal people who are trying to make a living and it is not always easy to come up with the plots when this is your 23rd book. I will continue to read about my friends the Cross's who I have sent many years with so far.
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