Roses are Red

by James Patterson

Little Brown, November, 2000.
Hardcover, 320 pages.
ISBN: 0316693251

Roses are Red by James Patterson

Alex Cross is contacted when a series of shocking robbery-murders in D.C. have gotten everyone's attention. When the bank robbers enter a bank, they give a series of explicit demands. Meanwhile, they also have people at the bank manager's home and threaten kill the bank manager's family if their demands at the bank are not met. In one robbery, the criminals murdered the bank manager's husband, nanny and three-year old son at the manager's house, even though the bank was only thirty seconds late in meeting the robbers' demands. The criminal behind the bloody robberies, The Mastermind, remains elusive, and as Cross continues his attempts to catch him, he seems to be playing right into The Mastermind's plans.

Roses are Red is another breathtaking thriller from Patterson. Alex Cross, the forensic detective that Patterson's readers are familiar with from Kiss the Girls, Cat & Mouse and Jack & Jill, is back, and -- as usual -- there are sociopaths to deal with and put in prison. And, as usual, his high-demand job has a negative impact on his family and love life, which is usually the only part of Patterson's novels that is a little bit slow. However, the family interludes do serve as a respite between the vivid action and breathtaking suspense, of which there is plenty in Roses are Red.

Roses are Red is available for purchase on Amazon.com

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This review was published in the February, 2001 of The Internet Writing Journal.