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cdarlinggg's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
4.25
hawkmates's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
premise is kind of insane and i'd be lying if i said i didn't find the book a bit boring. but it did hook me when we finally got the mastermind half.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Sexual assault, Gore, and Rape
Minor: Abandonment
megan210's review
3.0
ehh...I enjoyed finding out how "the mastermind" was caught, but other than that, vampire books are not really my thing.
tinana's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
isaacrm's review
3.0
This one is a three star rating meaning that is completely skippable, but if you don't have anything else to read or you are following the series, you might enjoy it.
This is probably one of the hardest books to review I've ever read. It is hard to explain this book without revealing anything about previous books in the series, so if you are not reading the series, and you plan to read this one as a standalone, don't, or at least skip reading this review.
I hope, really, really hope that this book truly signifies a complete turn-around on the Alex Cross series. I'm done with cops being the ultimate psychos. It isn't that I'm offended about portraying cops as bad cops, it is that the theme is way too redundant in the first 7 books of this series, which makes the books totally predictable.
Also, let's skip the abduction where the victim is found a year later in some foreign land alive and fine. No need to repeat ourselves.
Now let's talk about this book. You should not read this book if you are planning to just read one book in the series. This book will not hook you. This book is skippable even if you are reading the series. Yes, it is that bad, and you'll be highly disappointed.
First of all, you know who the "Mastermind" is if you read the previous book "Roses are Red". You are not going to find out anything interesting by reading this book. As a matter of fact, it doesn't make any sense who the "Mastermind" is. Yes, the ending of "Roses are Read" is shocking and leaves you with a bunch of questions. Well, this book will answer none of them.
The book feels as is the author was just tired of writing about the same theme and just came out and give some bogus explanation to what happened in the previous books in the series. This is not a well thought, ties everything together kind of book. This is a BS explanation of who the "Mastermind" is.
By the way, I can't by any mean, consider the "Mastermind" a mastermind. Other than pulling Alex Cross into cases throughout the series, the character is irrelevant, it has no weight, and there is no reason for him to hate Cross as much as he supposedly does. I also don't understand why he hates Cross because the author hasn't come up with a plausible reason.
Let's talk about the plot. What a weak plot! People are getting murdered by tigers and wannabe vampires. There are even some magicians in the picture. Could that make for a good story? Of course it can if the author had decided to make a story out of it. Instead, the author decided to resolve the case in 5 seconds with nothing leading up to that moment.
Let me explain that again. Up to the moment where the bad guys are discovered there are no leads, there are no patterns, no one knows who these guys can be. All of the sudden, the "Mastermind" knows who they are and they find them. I guess he was really a "Mastermind".
You'll think that all this happens at the end of the book or close to it. Nope. This happens a little bit over half way through the book. That's it. The rest of the book is complete and utter garbage.
I'm not even going to talk about the fact that Cross seems to fall in love with everything that moves. Apparently, every single detective out there is this amazing beautiful woman that after a couple of sentences (not very clever sentences by the way) are immediately attracted to an Ali in his prime look alike.
I don't like to be so critical of a book; especially, because I wouldn't be able to do it better. If I could, I would be writing instead of criticizing. But the point that I want to make is that this book is skippable in the series so don't bother unless is a personal goal. I am also hoping for a complete overhaul of the series because I'm not sure I can put up with same of the same for the next 17 books.
This is probably one of the hardest books to review I've ever read. It is hard to explain this book without revealing anything about previous books in the series, so if you are not reading the series, and you plan to read this one as a standalone, don't, or at least skip reading this review.
I hope, really, really hope that this book truly signifies a complete turn-around on the Alex Cross series. I'm done with cops being the ultimate psychos. It isn't that I'm offended about portraying cops as bad cops, it is that the theme is way too redundant in the first 7 books of this series, which makes the books totally predictable.
Also, let's skip the abduction where the victim is found a year later in some foreign land alive and fine. No need to repeat ourselves.
Now let's talk about this book. You should not read this book if you are planning to just read one book in the series. This book will not hook you. This book is skippable even if you are reading the series. Yes, it is that bad, and you'll be highly disappointed.
First of all, you know who the "Mastermind" is if you read the previous book "Roses are Red". You are not going to find out anything interesting by reading this book. As a matter of fact, it doesn't make any sense who the "Mastermind" is. Yes, the ending of "Roses are Read" is shocking and leaves you with a bunch of questions. Well, this book will answer none of them.
The book feels as is the author was just tired of writing about the same theme and just came out and give some bogus explanation to what happened in the previous books in the series. This is not a well thought, ties everything together kind of book. This is a BS explanation of who the "Mastermind" is.
By the way, I can't by any mean, consider the "Mastermind" a mastermind. Other than pulling Alex Cross into cases throughout the series, the character is irrelevant, it has no weight, and there is no reason for him to hate Cross as much as he supposedly does. I also don't understand why he hates Cross because the author hasn't come up with a plausible reason.
Let's talk about the plot. What a weak plot! People are getting murdered by tigers and wannabe vampires. There are even some magicians in the picture. Could that make for a good story? Of course it can if the author had decided to make a story out of it. Instead, the author decided to resolve the case in 5 seconds with nothing leading up to that moment.
Let me explain that again. Up to the moment where the bad guys are discovered there are no leads, there are no patterns, no one knows who these guys can be. All of the sudden, the "Mastermind" knows who they are and they find them. I guess he was really a "Mastermind".
You'll think that all this happens at the end of the book or close to it. Nope. This happens a little bit over half way through the book. That's it. The rest of the book is complete and utter garbage.
I'm not even going to talk about the fact that Cross seems to fall in love with everything that moves. Apparently, every single detective out there is this amazing beautiful woman that after a couple of sentences (not very clever sentences by the way) are immediately attracted to an Ali in his prime look alike.
I don't like to be so critical of a book; especially, because I wouldn't be able to do it better. If I could, I would be writing instead of criticizing. But the point that I want to make is that this book is skippable in the series so don't bother unless is a personal goal. I am also hoping for a complete overhaul of the series because I'm not sure I can put up with same of the same for the next 17 books.
moonymoment's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
justforfun702's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
ameserole's review
3.0
The Mastermind is back.
But this book was kind of boring to me. The same villain returns and another loved one is dead. Violets are Blue opens with Alex walking into the murder scene of his latest romantic and professional partner, FBI agent Betsy Cavalierre. She was murdered by the Mastermind, who was introduced in Roses are Red. Of course he calls Alex to taunt him which of course was predictable.
However, Alex doesn't just have to deal with his old nemesis in this book. Oh no, he has to deal with a pair of killers, Michael and William Alexander, who are teenaged vampires. Yep, this book went there.
Now don't get me wrong, I liked the book it just wasn't my favorite. It was kind of meh and even though it had some twists and turns - I saw most of it coming a mile away. The thing I didn't see coming was Craig, and no, I wont tell you what happened.
I really just hope that the next book will be a lot better.
But this book was kind of boring to me. The same villain returns and another loved one is dead. Violets are Blue opens with Alex walking into the murder scene of his latest romantic and professional partner, FBI agent Betsy Cavalierre. She was murdered by the Mastermind, who was introduced in Roses are Red. Of course he calls Alex to taunt him which of course was predictable.
However, Alex doesn't just have to deal with his old nemesis in this book. Oh no, he has to deal with a pair of killers, Michael and William Alexander, who are teenaged vampires. Yep, this book went there.
Now don't get me wrong, I liked the book it just wasn't my favorite. It was kind of meh and even though it had some twists and turns - I saw most of it coming a mile away. The thing I didn't see coming was Craig, and no, I wont tell you what happened.
I really just hope that the next book will be a lot better.
erincataldi's review
2.0
This is my second ever James Patterson novel. I loved the narrators and I think they made the story a LOT better. Even though this is the sixth Alex Cross novel and I haven't read the first ones, I decided to pick it up. These are all basically stand alone novels anyways. It started off really promising, and I was instantly hooked. The murders were freaky and the bad guys were scary. I wanted to know more. Unfortunately the ending was very anticlimactic. It turns out there was more than one story in this story and it made the ending.... not what I anticipated. Overall, it was pretty decent I guess.
For fans of James Patterson novels and cheap thrills.
For fans of James Patterson novels and cheap thrills.