Cat & Mouse (Alex Cross)
by James Patterson
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Book Summary Information
Author: James PattersonEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Dictionary); English (Published)
Published: 1998-11-01
ISBN: 0446606189
Number of pages: 480
Publisher: Vision
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780446606189
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of Cat & Mouse (Alex Cross)
Book Review: A Generous Two Stars for this Beach Book
Summary: 2 Stars
Friends and co-workers recommended James Patterson's books to me as exciting page-turners, and this is the first and only book I have read by him. There are several interesting features in this book, but for the most part, it was a disappointment. The plot consists of a Washington, DC detective - Alex Cross - who is involved in two cases of serial murderers, and his attempts to catch the murderers. One of the murderers is Gary Soneji from a previous Patterson thriller, and the other killer is a Mr. Smith. Alex Cross lives in Washington, DC with his two children and grandmother - who is a huge influence on him. There are several clever twists and turns to the plot, which will not be revealed here, as well as a good deal of time spent on his home life and love life. The plot takes us to Europe and several locations in the eastern United States (At one point, they are on a stake out in the beautiful and quaint town of Concord, MA, which Cross refers to as "the dreaded stakeout in Podunk." I'm sure the folks in Concord loved that comment.).
The trouble with the book is with all the people getting killed and in danger, and all the tense confrontations with the two perpetrators, I was never really on edge or pulled into the action. The reason for this is the author treats some of the characters and victims in the book the same as his serial killers do - like just so much blood and bodies to decorate the scenery. In other words, a lot of people get killed in awful ways, but we do not get enough of a sense of sadness or outrage because we do not get to know very much about the victims. Also, we do not get into the head of the killers enough. Patterson describes the killers and what made them go berserk, but there is something missing, we are not really inside their minds. By comparison, Thomas Harris' books - especially Red Dragon - are more successful in treating the serial killer "genre." His detectives walk through the houses of the victims, and reflect on everyday homely items they see, like samples on the kitchen walls, and become affected by the individual lives lost, so the readers are saddened and scared by the terrible acts that are done. Also, Harris' killers are more believable because their backgrounds are more compellingly presented. In Patterson's book short shrift is given to the background of Gary and Mr. Smith. We know that Gary was kept in his cellar as a child, but we do not feel the terror and anger he must have felt to drive him to do evil.
Another thing that Patterson does is not only switch between the first person and third person narrator, but switch between first persons - sometimes the first person is Alex Cross, sometimes it is Pierce - the FBI detective - sometimes it is Gary and sometimes Mr. Smith. This is somewhat difficult to keep up with, if you are new to this writer, and it does not work very well with the extremely short chapters (my edition has 451 pages, and 131 chapters). These brief chapters provided a stop-and-start feel to the book. As soon as I was getting involved in a part of the plot, the chapter ended, and I was thrown to another setting with different characters.
The last thing negative about the book: there was way too much time spent on the "love interest," i.e., the burgeoning relationship between Alex Cross and Christine Johnson - the dedicated recently widowed school principal. I'm sure that this furthered the development of Alex's and Christine's characters, but the effect was a bit on the soppy side. Other characters could have been developed more - Kyle Craig (another FBI man) who had some real reflecting to do by the time the book was over, and Sondra Greenberg of Interpol.
If you are a Patterson and/or Alex Cross fan, I don't think you will be very disappointed by this book, and I may give Patterson a second chance. If you cannot decide whether to read this book, check the excerpts on Amazon. I rate the book two stars as a beach book.
Summary of Cat & Mouse (Alex Cross)
Alex Cross is back-and so is a raging and suicidal Gary Soneji. Out of prison and dying from the AIDS virus he contracted there, he will get revenge on Cross before he dies. In addition, we are introduced to a new pair of rivals whose paths cross that of Alex and Soneji. Thomas Augustine Pierce has been chasing his demon, Mr. Smith, since the savage murder of his fiancee. Mr. Smith is a unique monster, with actions toward his victims so insane-so unimaginable-that he is thought of as "not of the earth." Pierce, known in the business as St. Augustine because of his track record for catching killers and his invaluable status to the FBI and Interpol, may even be better than Cross.When things heat up and Alex is in a near-death coma following an attack in his own home, Pierce goes to Washington to help with the investigation. But just as he begins to piece together the mystery of how Gary Soneji could have mortally wounded Cross after he was believed to be dead, he is summoned to Paris with a postcard from Mr. Smith inviting him to a very special killing.The body count is high, the tension the highest, and the two killers on the loose are watching every move their pursuers make. Who is the cat, and who is the mouse? What and where is the final trap? And who survives?Alex Cross, the Porsche-driving doctor-detective-profiler-psychologist and single father of two must save his own life as well as the lives of his lover and family in a deadly game of Cat and Mouse. Cross meets up again with his old nemesis Gary Soneji, the ruthless, bloodthirsty megalomaniac from Along Came a Spider. Apparently, Soneji isn't too happy with Cross for putting him away and keeping him out of the violent crime loop for five years, so he's back with a bone to pick and a couple of fish to fry--or innocent bystanders to shoot, stab, or bludgeon. Soneji goes on a commuter killing spree in hopes of luring Cross down a bloody trail that ends at the good detective's own home. Cross is hot on the case and hot for Christine Johnson, his children's babe-a-licious principal who happens to be the widow of George Johnson, one of Soneji's victims. Never mind the coincidence; is Christine a bad-luck charm? Is there another killer? If so, is she or he in cahoots with Soneji? Once again, Patterson delivers a fast-paced, action-packed thriller that's sure to keep the pages flying.
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