Rating: 
Summary: New York Times is RIGHT!
Review: The New York Times is right -- James Patterson can't write!! An unbelievable plot, poorly written with weak characters and worse dialogue. I am donating this book to my local library anonymously! Don't waste your money or your time.
Rating:
Summary: Huge waste of time!
Review: Predictable and boring. I enjoy reading good thrillers and mysteries, but this was not one of them. What a waste of time. Patterson seems to be running out of original ideas. With so many good books out there don't waste your time with this.
Rating:
Summary: Roz Levine has it right
Review: I agree 100% with Roz. I have enjoyed Patterson's writing in most of his other books but this one is a real stinker. Seems like he wrote it over one weekend and not a long weekend at that.Just read Roz's review and you'll have my review as well.
Rating: 
Summary: Not his best
Review: His faithful readers already knew who the murderer was from his last novel-"Roses Are Red." The book is not totally logical. As a reader who knows who the mastermind is, I was trying to tie the plot together, trying to make some sense as to who did what and why and how. The whole story is not as believable as his other books. The book left me feeling a little unsatisfied and disappointed. It might be a more enjoyable book for someone that has not read "Roses Are Red."
Rating:
Summary: Not the worst book I have ever read - but close
Review: This book will be very disapointing to Alex Cross fans. I can still remember how impressed I was with the ealier books - and that makes this one even more disappointing. I felt like James Patterson was actually trying to write this book so that it could easily be adapted for the "big screen".
Rating: 
Summary: The violets may be blue, but they're also a bit wilted...
Review: I have read all but 2 of the Alex Cross books by James Patterson; a few weeks ago I finished "Roses are Red" and anxiously snatched up its sequel, "Violets are Blue," after doing so. I admire James Patterson's way of getting you immediately involved in his Cross novels via the suspense and plot turns and VERY short chapters (though stylistically he leaves alot to be desired), but I just felt a bit empty after reading "Violets".In this book, Dr. Alex Cross has two cases on his back; first, he's receiving daily threatening calls from the Mastermind, the psychopath Cross failed to capture in "Roses". The Matermind's identity is known to anyone who reads the last page of "Roses are Red" but Cross is still in the dark, even as the Mastermind promises Cross he and/or his family will die soon. Added to this, Cross's FBI friend Kyle Craig draws him into a string of brutal "vampire murders" around the country where the attractive and healthy victims are found hanging upside down and drained of nearly all their blood. I think Patterson heaps too much into this novel. Through two-thirds of the 393 pages the Mastermind does little more than threaten Alex, and that wears thin after awhile -- it's almost like filler, like a "b-story" storyline that is stretched to fill up book space. In "Roses" the Mastermind was all about action -- nearly every 2nd or 3rd chapter he pulled something. Here, he's just a boogeyman on a phone through so much of the novel. The vampire murders story is NOT as gorey as some reviewers here would have you believe (try a little Laurell K. Hamilton if you want to experience some REAL gorey story writing), and though I found the twin blond vampire brothers interesting as heck, the whole Sire thing was a bit farfetched and lacking in real suspense (should have made the blond brothers the main focus of the story, they were so intriguing). Also, the solving of that case didn't leave me feeling the case was solved at all; it was too convoluted, with too many possibilities that other killers could still be out there, or that someone could simply pick up where the Sire left off . . . Knowing the identity of the Mastermind didn't keep me from enjoying the book, and I read it through quickly and eagerly. But while "Roses are Red" was satisfying like a big bowl of popcorn -- light, but filling -- "Violets are Blue" made me search for the butter or salt, trying to give this popcorn some badly-needed flavor.
Rating:
Summary: Read this, then read Johnathan Kellerman's new book
Review: The differences are amazing. Compared to Flesh and Blood, this novel reads like an episode of scooby doo, with more violence. Where's the actual suspense and detecitve work here? Alex Cross simply goes to crime scene after crime scene, following the muderer around until he stumbles upon him. The one bit of detectivie work was figuring out the link between the cities. No other speculation, clues, or other ideas. Not many suspects to choose from either. We knew who 2 of the murderers were, and anyone who reads James Patterson's books already knew that there were more than 2 killers. So no plot twist there. Other than that, there were 2 possiblities for the sire, the 2 'experts' that cross interviewed... pick the name out of a hat, and there's the sire! No explanation about motives either. At least scooby doo episodes had some sort of motivation for the crime. Compare this to Kellerman's novel where there was actual police investigation, many possible suspects, and many theories thought out logically. THAT is a novel for a thinking adult, this is a brainless outline of a novel. And then there's the tacked on issue of the Mastermind. First, and most annoying, it seemed like Patterson forgot that he revealed the identity of the mastermind at the end of the last novel. That ruins the mastermind portion of this novel, making 0 suprises through the whole thing. Also, if you're going to reference occurences from 3 or 4 novels past, a little bit more detail would really be nice to refresh the reader's mind. I read Kiss the Girls over 4 years ago... am i supposed to remember what happened there, what the Mastermind did in that novel? It all seems just a little bit of a stretch to tie together every single alex cross novel ever written. Oh, yes, one more comment... I counted apporoximately 130 pages of blank space in the book (probably more, i was generous in my counting). Take that with the huge font size and the large margins, and you barely have a novella, let alone a novel. I KNOW Patterson can do much better... I recall his earlier novels being well written. So what's happened to this once great author?
Rating: 
Summary: A FINALE TO ALEX CROSS?
Review: James Patterson apparently knows when enough is enough. This seeming conclusion to the career of Alex Cross as we have come to know him keeps the reader glued to his or her chair as the crimes keep twisting and turning.
Patterson's best accomplishment in this novel is making the reader want to know the conclusion and is it going to be what it
seems most likely to be. This is an extremely difficult feat inasmuch as the true Alex Cross fan has already been told the identity of the Criminal genius known as the Mastermind at the conclusion of Roses Are Red.
I found the various locales, new characters, and hideous crimes were more than ample to tantaliize the viewer on the road to an
almost foregone conclusion.
I hope the series is now put to rest at least for a while and James Patterson concentrates on winning our attention to the slick group of crime fighting gals he introduced us to in First To Die.
Rating:
Summary: Not his best....
Review: James Patterson follows up on "Roses are Red" with a novel about serial killing packed with violence and gore. Some things to praise:
Alex Cross is truly at the crossroads of career, and it seems certain that he will make some changes in his life based on how much he realizes that the path he has chosen in career hurts the path of the life he wants to lead as a man and a parent. Violets are Blue is hard to set down. The action is cross-country, and the Mastermind plot is woven in with a horrendous series of serial murders that seem to be driven by vampires.
The conclusion of the vampire segment is surprising and satisfying. Some things that hurt the novel: Another new female interest....it seems too soon after his last two relationships, and the introduction of Jamilla seems as though she will be a character in books to come. She is not very interesting here, so hopefully Patterson will be able to grow the character in the future. The answer to the Mastermind plot is far too obvious, and you keep hoping that it will be a last-minute surprise. Too out of character for Alex to not sense the evil in the person who is revealed as the Mastermind. I love the crispness and shortness of Patterson's chapters, but, in this book, he gets carried away, turning his style into choppiness instead of the effect of the technique in earlier books. I can't say I didn't enjoy reading Violets are Blue, but, the novel pales next to the earlier Alex Cross offerings. Will there be a "Sugar is Sweet"? Most likely, and hopefully Patterson will put more into his plot line and his characterization, to revive the Cross franchise.
Rating:
Summary: Just keep getting worse!!!
Review: I began reading James Patterson 2 years ago and quickly moved through all of the Alex Cross novels. Each one captivated me and was a joy to read. Now these novels are completely without depth and character development. This, coupled with the 2 page chapters, make me feel as though I am reading a children's book. Violet's are Blue was the worst yet (even though I didn't think it could get much worse than Roses are Red). After this book, I won't buy another James Patterson. Save yourself the $, skip this book.
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