Four Blind Mice

Compared to some of the other Alex Cross installments, this one isn’t half bad. It may not be as great as “Kiss the Girls” but it does well for a sequel in some areas.

I guess what I like about this novel is the “feeling” that I get from it. It feels like an Alex Cross novel, just with a mix of something new. I like the fact that Alex is going to retire from the police force and move on from it, but is also being pressured by the FBI to join them. For once, we see Alex actually going through something that we all can care about. It isn’t just about romance and hard breakups (you what I mean). Seeing John Sampson finally fall in love was a good change. The romance was okay and I thought Billie was an okay character. Another thing that did this novel justice was the introduction of a new character named Kayla Coles. I actually really like this character, including her friendship with Alex.

But where the novel fails in some areas of the story itself. The villains are nothing special and the twists and turns are not good. And even though I do like the romance between John and Billie, I do think that it could have used some more chapter time. I mean, the ending has John and Billie marrying, but we never once see the proposal or any other development into that area. Also, Alex’s relationship with Jamilla Hughes is not really all that convincing. While I do like the character herself, its the romance that I don’t like. In fact, I’m hoping that Alex gets with Kayla for some reason, they seem to actually have chemistry.

The “Four Blind Mice” is, in my opinion, an okay novel to the series. I think it is worth checking out.

I am rereading the entire Alex Cross series and I am enjoying every book. 4 Blind Mice was especially exciting. I love that the books in this series follow each other, it makes for exciting reading and because it has been so long since I read the first of the series it is almost like reading them For the first time. Thank you James Patterson for these exciting books.

This book is a wow! It is based on men who were in the army in Vietnam and as the years have gone by someone has hired them to use their talents to kill other people in the D.C. area 30 years later. As usual James Patterson uses these details to write a sensational book. You will find it hard to put down.

I’m more than half way though this series, at the end of each book I am left wanting to read more and more but at the same time I don’t want to run out of Alex Cross books! That’s when I know that I found something good, and this doesn’t disappoint, if anything it makes me want to read another Cross book the last page is read. Alex is on the brink of retiring and is toying with the possibility of accepting the offer with FBI, the only thing on his path is the last mission he has set for himself, helping Joe Sampson’s (his best pal and work partner) old Vietnam buddy Ellis Cooper clear his name from murders he swears he didn’t commit. The only problem, Cooper is on death row, sentenced for an execution. Too much evidence has placed him as the killer but when Cross and Sampson try to dig deeper into the case and excavate some of the suspicions that no one has answered they are pushed away by the Army and those involved in the sentencing. This time Cross and Sampson have met a whole new batch of psychos and as usual have to put their lives and their sanity on the line, ah this stuff never gets old!
Even though the main topic is a bit sad and depressing, the story is interesting and as usual it’s full of what Patterson does well; crazy scenarios, brutal killings, complex characters and heck, even some good food thrown in. Sampson’s role grows too as he meets a new lady friend and makes the ending quite interesting.

This wasn’t my favorite Cross novel but I enjoyed it a lot and read most of it in one sitting. The story plows through in lightening speed even though there is a lot of really short chapters, as usual I liked that it switched from following Alex to trailing the killers and giving the tale depth and perception that would have otherwise be missed if it was only told form one person’s point of view. Cross hasn’t met his match yet but his luck is stretching painfully thin these days, with each new book there is a new mastermind to battle not to mention issues at home of all sorts, Patterson had shaped this character very well and one can see the growth in each book, I am totally addicted to the series!

– Kasia S.

I appreciate James Patterson’s Alex Cross series for what it is…murder conspiracies with a powerful ringleader. I also understand the series has many limitations which have been covered in detail by other reviewers.

My biggest problem with this book is that I realized Patterson left huge gaps in his narrative that require the reader to just accept things on faith. It is not enough to know who the villans are or even to establish their motives. I needed to know how they were able to make this series of frame-ups work. How were they able to plant DNA evidence at the crime scene? How were they able to mobilize the police or MP’s on such short notice? How is it possible that someone not involved in the coverup didn’t detect a pattern much earlier in this drama? How were they able to put the murder weapon back in the house without detection? How did these “victim soldiers” pass through the death row appeals process so quickly? Was every District Attorney and every police chief paid to look the other way? Too many questions left me unsatisfied and frustrated. It is as if Patterson had a general outline and didn’t take the time or effort to flesh out his story.

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