Product Description

A series of meticulously planned bank robberies ends in murder, and Washington, DC, detective Alex Cross must pit his wits against the bizarre and sadistic mastermind behind the crimes. Although torn between dedication to his job and commitment to his family, Cross cannot ignore the case, despite the risks he knows will come with hunting down a killer – and the heartbreaking cost.

James Patterson’s bestseller takes us from deep inside the crazy world of a psychopath’s masquerade right to the heart of fiction’s most brilliant detective. Alex Cross is back in an explosive tale where mind games lead to violence and the slightest mistake will be punished with death.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6281 in Books
• Published on: 2001-06-25
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 448 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Part of the motive of serial killers is simply to prove that they are better--better than their victims and better than the police investigating them. Mastermind, the villain of James Patterson's new thriller Roses are Red, goes one better--he does not even have to do all his own killings, simply manipulate the bank robbers he gathers for progressively more vicious hostage takings into ever more bloody massacres. Psychologist-investigator Alex is already coping with the aftermath of a previous case--the woman he loves has been so badly traumatised by the killer who abducted her for months that she does not want to be near him or their child; and now he finds himself dealing with a case where completely arbitrary decisions about who lives and who dies are the order of the day. Mastermind is ahead of the game each step of the way--this is a novel about the pain of betrayal as well as the pain of responsibility; Alex is a flawed, clever man driven near to breaking point by the knowledge that, if he guesses things wrong, people will die, and that they may die anyway just to spite him. --Roz Kaveney

Review
`Patterson's simple but effective style and short, punchy chapters keep the action moving nicely' Daily Mirror

About the Author
James Patterson is one of the best-known and biggest-selling writers of all time. He is the author of some of the most popular series of the past decade: the Women's Murder Club, the Alex Cross novels and Maximum Ride, and he has written many other number one bestsellers including romance novels and stand-alone thrillers. He has won an Edgar Award, the mystery world's highest honour. He lives in Florida with his wife and son.

Customer Reviews

Stop before the Last Two Pages ... or Skip Violets are Blue
Caution: This book contains much graphic slaughter of the innocents and the guilty. If such things offend you, avoid this book. Also, Mr. Patterson likes to use vulgar language to provide a sense of colloquial English that may also put off some.

I'm serious about stopping before the last two pages. In fact, cover them with a sheet of paper so you don't accidentally see anything on it. Reading the last two pages of Roses Are Red will reduce the attractiveness of this story to you, and eliminate most of the potential pleasure you can experience in Violets Are Blue, the next Alex Cross novel. The last two pages of Roses Are Red simply should have been edited out! Be cautious about which reviews you read of this book also, because some reviews reveal the material on those two pages . . . the ultimate in giving away a spoiler!

Mr. Patterson's strength is writing plots that are well paced, varied, surprising, and unusual. I thought that his plotting in Roses Are Red was unusually good. You will find yourself racing through the book, wanting to find out what's going on and who's behind it all.

The book's main theme is crime as a work of art expressing the ingenuity of a brilliant, but twisted criminal. As a result, the crimes are mentally very challenging to understand. You will think that you are reading about the criminal plans of Dr. Moriarty, Sethos, and the Riddler combined.

The weaknesses of Mr. Patterson's Alex Cross novels are also present here. He doesn't really show any detection, just detectives chatting with each other interspersed with developments driven by the criminals. The characters are about as little developed as they could be and still be differentiated from one another. The dialogue often reads like detective fiction rather than real dialogue.

But if you feel that you have enjoyed other Alex Cross novels, you will definitely like this one.

After you read Violets Are Blue, come back and read the last two pages of Roses Are Red.

Where else can less be more? Would the story, "The Lady or the Tiger," have been as interesting to you if you knew how it turned out?

Grasp the exact solution to provide the most for the least effort!

A Very Enjoyable Novel...Until The End.
Alex Cross returns once more in James Patterson's 'Roses Are Red' and once more Patterson hits the right notes.

The story revolves around Detective Cross' attempts to track down a mysterious killer - the self styled Mastermind - whose particularly brutal in his methods and ensures that anyone who garners any information about him isn't alive to tell anyone.

Patterson's short chapters really help his books to move along at a fast pace and this ensures that 'Roses Are Red' has a whirlwind pace to it as it builds to it's conclusion.

And it's that which is where the problems start.

The ending felt like it was a cheat somehow, especially as there had been no indication of it coming and it seemed designed mainly to promote Patterson's next book in the series.

It's a shame that the ending left me feeling this way as otherwise it would have been an excellent book as good as many of Patterson's previous ones.

Stop before the Last Two Pages ... or Skip Violets are Blue
Caution: This book contains much graphic slaughter of the innocents and the guilty. If such things offend you, avoid this book. Also, Mr. Patterson likes to use vulgar language to provide a sense of colloquial English that may also put off some.

I'm serious about stopping before the last two pages. In fact, cover them with a sheet of paper so you don't accidentally see anything on it. Reading the last two pages of Roses Are Red will reduce the attractiveness of this story to you, and eliminate most of the potential pleasure you can experience in Violets Are Blue, the next Alex Cross novel. The last two pages of Roses Are Red simply should have been edited out! Be cautious about which reviews you read of this book also, because some reviews reveal the material on those two pages . . . the ultimate in giving away a spoiler!

Mr. Patterson's strength is writing plots that are well paced, varied, surprising, and unusual. I thought that his plotting in Roses Are Red was unusually good. You will find yourself racing through the book, wanting to find out what's going on and who's behind it all.

The book's main theme is crime as a work of art expressing the ingenuity of a brilliant, but twisted criminal. As a result, the crimes are mentally very challenging to understand. You will think that you are reading about the criminal plans of Dr. Moriarty, Sethos, and the Riddler combined.

The weaknesses of Mr. Patterson's Alex Cross novels are also present here. He doesn't really show any detection, just detectives chatting with each other interspersed with developments driven by the criminals. The characters are about as little developed as they could be and still be differentiated from one another. The dialogue often reads like detective fiction rather than real dialogue.

But if you feel that you have enjoyed other Alex Cross novels, you will definitely like this one.

After you read Violets Are Blue, come back and read the last two pages of Roses Are Red.

Where else can less be more? Would the story, "The Lady or the Tiger," have been as interesting to you if you knew how it turned out?

Grasp the exact solution to provide the most for the least effort!