Rating: 
Summary: Marginal suspense thriller
Review: This was my first James Patterson book, so I'll have to accept the general consensus that many of his earlier novels are better than this one. The main problem with Violets are Blue (aside from a title that has nothing to do with the book, at least that I can tell) is that it has two distinct storylines that do not significantly intersect or complement one another. Detective Alex Cross is being stalked by a brilliant psychopath (aren't they all?) known as the Mastermind. This puts added strain on his already difficult family situation. Cross is a single father attempting to raise three children. The conflict between job and family life portrayed in Violets are Blue is somewhat hackneyed. Meanwhile, a series of brutal murders apparently committed by vampires (and possibly a pet tiger) sends Cross all over the country. The vampire part of the plot was the most interesting. It explores the goth/vampire subculture, and postulates what might happen if some of these people took their fascination with the dark side of things to an extreme. As I mentioned, the two threads remain separate until the very end of the book. To my mind, one of them resolves itself too quickly and the other too predictably; I guessed the identity of one of the villains fairly early. All in all, some good elements, but not combined in the best fashion.
Rating: 
Summary: Vampire cults and bizarre murders
Review: People are dying brutally and it appears that they are being ravaged by animals and covered with bites. Detective Alex Cross of KISS THE GIRLS fame is on the case again and things are just not adding up. He is being pulled into this twisted, murderous, rampage while receiving calls from the Mastermind who is stalking him, and undoubtedly wants him dead.Patterson leads the reader on a merry chase all over the country while uncovering murders that go back as far as 15 years. His spunky sidekick Jamilla, one of only two female detectives in her department helps him to mix and mingle with the Goth crowd suspected to be at the bottom of it all. The last part of the book is the culmination of the sadistic "Mastermind" and his plans, now set in motion for the destruction of Cross. It ties together characters and happenings from past books. I found this book predictable, no surprises here, but enjoyable none-the-less. I would give it 3.5 stars...
Rating: 
Summary: Not His Best
Review: This was not one of Patterson's best books. It was a little strange and not very satisfying. He is a great author, but this book does not reflect it.
Rating:
Summary: Hmmm
Review: I am the type to rush out and buy James Patterson's books as soon as they are available but I wish I hadn't rushed for this one. I don't know if it was the vampire theme but this wasn't my favorite of the Alex Cross books. I just found myself being grossed out for much of the book. After Roses are Red, I was dying for the next one but this one didn't do it for me. But I won't stray, I will be waiting for the next book with anticipation. So it wasn't horrible but it wasn't his best either.
Rating:
Summary: At Least the "Old" Alex Cross is Back
Review: Once upon a time, there was a detective/psychologist named Alex Cross who solved nursery rhyme murders depicted in "Along Came a Spider", "Kiss the Girls", "Jack & Jill". That fellow used his wits and his contacts to track the bad guys down. Somewhere between "Jack & Jill" and "Roses are Red" Alex Cross got a little too big for his britches or, more accurately, a little bigger than life. One got a little tired of hearing how he was "better looking than Muhammad Ali" or how heads would turn when he walked into a restaurant with a lady on his arm or how he would take over an FBI briefing for the Director ( when he wasn't even in the FBI ) or even how crying babies magically shut up once in his arms. It got to be too much. But the old, nose-to-the -grindstone, listen to Nana Mama, Alex Cross is back. Or, at least, back for this book. "Violets are Blue" tells the tale of vampire killers - "real" vampires that is. But, don't worry, neither Bela Lugosi nor Christopher Lee are going to pop out of the shadows. These vampires bite their victims, sure, but then string them up and drain their blood. Pattison never does explain how it is they don't leave a mess ( aside from the corpse, that is ) but there is one credo that Cross does learn: "When you hunt the vampire, the vampire hunts you." Cross, the FBI, and his latest "squeeze" from the San Francisco P.D., follow these ghouls on a cross country murder spree. Pattison's usual short page chapters are fairly well packed with action. Oh, and lest we forget, the Mastermind from "Roses are Red", whose identity we know but Cross doesn't, makes a final appearance. A relationship between the Mastermind and earlier Cross mysteries ( and I mean very earlier mysteries ) is revealed. There is still an allusion to "Super Hero" Cross. He is involved in a fist fight while having an ice peak stuck in his chest - and he wins! Still, I'll give him that one transgression because he does admit, "I'm always going in first. How long am I going to keep it up?" It's good to have you back, Alex.
Rating:
Summary: Patterson phoned this one in
Review: There was very little of the real suspense here that I've come to expect from Patterson's novels. It started off promisingly enough, but quickly deteriorated so that before I was 1/3 through the book, I felt as if he must have written it during the commercials of Survivor. The Mastermind is pretty easy to pinpoint -- Patterson is not subtle in his clues this time around. And really, Cross' women-and-dating dilemmas are getting stale. I recommend this only as a part of the Cross series, but it's disappointing on its own merit.
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: Searching for originality
Review: Let me start off by saying that this is my fourth book in the Alex Cross series; "Along Came a Spider" was excellent, "Kiss the Girls" was much the same. I found "Roses are Red" to be a very entertaining continuation of the type and style of book that "Along Came a Spider" was--that is, a psychological story involving an intelligent, unpredictable enemy. However, unlike Patterson's first two Alex Cross books, "Roses are Red" was written with the intention of creating a cliffhanger ending, most likely to drive sales of his latest work, "Violets are Blue". After reading "Roses are Red", I immediately picked up "Violets are Blue", expecting an immediate continuation of the predecessor's story. Instead, what I go was 300 pages of a poorly written, highly erratic story that desperately tried to stretch the length of the book out past the realm of a long essay. In fact, Patterson doesn't focus on the main story line until 3/4 of the way through the book. And, what's worse, the first 3/4 of the book deals with a laughable plot involving a cult of vampire-like killers, terrorizing unknown prey. Give me a break! If I expected or wanted horror/cult-related stories, I'd buy a Stephen King or Clive Barker novel. Obviously, fiction readers expect a certain level of the impossible; but we also appreciate well-written, highly realistic stories. "Violets are Blue" fails both these expectations. So, my advice to any first-time Patterson readers or would-be Alex Cross fans: read "Along Came a Spider" and "Kiss the Girls". If you're still curious, pick up a copy of "Roses are Red", knowing that you'll be left hanging. But should you opt to read the [supposed] conclusion, "Violets are Blue", don't expect much. The book doesn't read as fast as Patterson's others, nor is it as satisfying. Without knowing what "Four Blind Mice" will be like, the next Alex Cross novel, I can only hope that Patterson realizes he needs a major story change; he's been trying to emulate his best, most original works and failing miserably.
Rating: 
Summary: Someone Stop Him Before He Writes Again...
Review: While I won't say that "Violets are Blue" is the worst book I've ever read, it is certainly in the top (or is that bottom) ten. I liked some of Patterson's earlier novels but the last two I've read have been dreadful. "First to Die" was bad enough; this one was worse. First, the plot is ludicrous. He tries to juggle two stories and does a poor job with both. The main plot, if you can call it that, deals with alleged vampires. It is overly graphic and meandering, with lots of loose ends. Most ridiculous is the fact that after chasing the villains around the country, without being able to find out even who they are, our hero suddenly wraps up the chase in an abrupt and totally preposterous manner. Clever police work has nothing to do with it; all of a sudden, a small town that is supposedly "vampire central" shows up on Alex Cross' radar scope, he goes there, and the vampires are all together waiting to be caught. It's outlandish. The second plot, dealing with the character known as the Mastermind, is equally stupid. I had not read "Roses are Red" where the identity of the Mastermind is apparently revealed but it didn't matter. Anyone who can't figure out who it is halfway through should turn in his or her library card. Second, the book is sloppily written; to give one example, there is a couple victimized by the vampires about a third of the way in. In the scene where the vampires attack them, the man's wife calls him by his name. When the cops discover the body, he is identified by a different name. A minor point, perhaps, but an indication of how thrown together the whole thing is. Finally, the dialogue is possibly the worst I have ever read. Some of Alex Cross' thoughts are so silly, especially during the romantic interludes, that you want to laugh out loud. This is truly a bad book and the sad part of it is that Patterson can write; he had demonstated it in the past. But one cannot help but believe that he has decided to chase the quick buck; he knows that this stuff will sell so he grinds it out, presumably to satisfy his contract to produce so many books a year. The result is that he gets rich and his readers get cheated. Fortunately, I checked this out of the library so I'm not out any money; I feel sorry for those who bought it.
Rating:
Summary: Very easy read
Review: I have read most of the Alex Cross books. Nothing new or stimulating happing throughout the book the story line was terribly predictable.
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