Book Review: Violets are Blue

Book: Violets Are Blue (Alex Cross book #7) by James Patterson

Edition: Hardcover

Rating: 5 stars

Review:

In Violets are Blue, Detective Alex Cross finds himself in danger on and off the case. The story opens with Alex finding out about the murder of his friend and FBI Agent Betsey Cavalierre. He knew who killed her. It was the Mastermind, a sadistic killer who has been stalking and taunting Cross for sometime.

But trying to capture the Mastermind would have to take a backseat because a bizarre killing spree would soon become Alex Cross' top priority. When the bodies of two joggers were found in a San Francisco park, it appeared they had been attacked not only by an animal but possibly by vampires.

From there the investigation led Cross, Detective Jamilla Hughes and the FBI to similar killings around the country. This case brought Cross into the secret and deadly world of vampires. Alex might have been focused on the vampire killings but the Mastermind wasn't far from his thoughts. 

I like this story so much more than the last Alex Cross book I read "Kiss the Girls" (book #2). Violets are Blue was a vast improvement over that book, in this one, the story flowed and the writing was strong. There was mounting danger as Cross and the FBI try to find out who were behind the killings and where they would strike next. And Alex also had to constantly worry about what the Mastermind was up to. This was an interesting story and I like that it didn't get bogged down with too many unnecessary things. And just when you think the story is over, Alex was finally able to focus on stopping the Mastermind and find out who he was. Although technically, it wasn't that hard to figure out, I had my suspicions even before the author started to leaves a few clues sprinkled throughout.

This turned out to be better than I expected especially since the last two James Patterson books I read "1st to Die" and "Kiss the Girls" were rather disappointing. Since, I'm not exactly reading this series in order, I hope the next Alex Cross book I read is as good as this one.