Violets Are Blue
by James Patterson
List Price:
Our Price: $4.96
You Save: $22.49 (82%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $3.84 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: James PattersonEdition: Hardcover
Format: Bargain Price
Published: 2001-11-19
ISBN: N/A
Number of pages: 400
Book Reviews of Violets Are Blue
Book Review: Fairly good execution, not a great idea
Summary: 3 Stars
First let me begin by saying I listened to the audiobook version of this novel, as I have most every "Cross" novel. They provide an entertaining enough distraction from life. It included a "very special introduction" from the author. Wow! James Patterson actually taking some time to possibly give some insight into how he created the character, or what his writing process is, or...or just him patting himself on the back. Yes, this is indeed what he took two minutes out of his writing schedule for. He literally began by saying he's been called an author that people tend to read too much of. They seemingly are so enthralled by the story they sit in their driveways or in the parking lot of the office not wanting to get out of the car. He then went on to talk about how he went to dinner with friends and met Clint Eastwood, who told him he "needed a hit movie..bad!". So basically he insinuated that ol' Clint needs him to write him a hit movie. What?! I wanted to (and would have had I not been at work myself) scream out loud, "You pompous ***!" I couldn't believe he was being so self-serving.
A very humble writer once said that a good writer can never hope to be a great writer. There are very few great writers, such as Shakespeare. This humble writer put himself in the good writer category, knowing he could never hope to achieve that level of penmanship. This humble writer is considered by many to be one of the greatest writer's of our time. His name is Stephen King. While you may be a competent writer Mr. Patterson, you sir, are absolutely no Shakespeare. You are not a Stephen King for that matter.
As for this book, it's a typical Patterson "Cross" novel. It employs psychopathic killers who tend to be over the top, and this one is basically two stories in one. The main focus of the story involves two (in the beginning) serial killers who commit vampire style killings, biting their victims, then draining the blood and hanging them upside down. This for the most part is the most unbelievable antagonists Patterson has come up with yet. However, he does end up executing the story well enough to keep the reader involved. I've read most of the "Alex Cross" novels, mostly because they provide enough entertainment that I'm distracted from the real world for a while.
The backstory is of a man called "the Mastermind". He calls Cross at all hours of the day and night, usually while he's in the middle of solving this particular murder. Cross ends up on a cross country trek hunting down the two killers and trying to figure out exactly how they operate. It leads him to San Francisco where he reteams with Jamilla Hughes, and of course sexual chemistry abounds. Although I have to commend Mr. Patterson for choosing this time not to have Cross end up in the bedroom of a hotel describing almost every intricate sexual detail. Between that and the following pillow talk, I begin to wonder if I'm reading a crime novel or an erotic novel written for women. It's not only uncomfortable, it's just in my opinion, unnecessary.
Of course there is the family time, and for the most part, those scenes are written in order to give us a break from the tension that the main story is supposed to provide us with. These are written in a way that seems forced and the dialogue is so sappy sweet you can't help but laugh. Unfortunately, it's not because the jokes are funny. Dialogue is meant to sound real, not like a gimmick that Mr. Patterson would use in a commercial back when he was in marketing. Unfortunately, most of the scenes play out so quickly there isn't any real tension to be found. While the author is adept at moving at a quick pace, whenever "the mastermind" calls to taunt Cross, threatening his family, the situation is resolved so quickly you never feel the gut-wrenching fear that Cross should feel. By the time you get 3/4 through the novel, you don't believe for a second that his family is in any real danger.
The vampire part of the story ends up in a very anti-climactic showdown that plays out a little too conveniently when he reveals the plot twist. And the most tense filled moment of this particular part has Alex facing down a tiger.
When we finally do find Cross figuring out who the mastermind is, we can't help but see a huge plot hole big enough to drive a semi through. He's been taunting him with phone calls for weeks, yet he can't recognize his voice on the phone. The showdown between the two plays out just as expected, a little more tension filled than the rest of the book, however more unbelievable than the vampire story. I find it a little hard to believe you can interrogate a suspect with an icepick buried in your chest!
Overall, it's worth a read or listen, but just don't expect to be enthralled enough to sit in the car not wanting to get out. The shame of it is that I wouldn't be shocked if Cross started shamelessly promoting himself and name-dropping the same way that Mr. Patterson does. At times it seems that Cross is not only a doppelganger of Mr. Patterson, he has his same arrogant traits. It's usual "Cross" antics, and unfortunately that's part of the problem. You pretty much know how it will all turn out. At this point you know he's not in any real danger. You just wish that Mr. Patterson might change up the game a little and have him do something original. Have Cross and Samson open up a private detective agency. At least then the hard-boiled over the top cop dialogue might be more believable...or at least easier to swallow.
Summary of Violets Are Blue
Two joggers are found murdered in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, and the killings are bizarrely reminiscent of a Washington, D.C. case that Alex Cross has been unable to solve. He is called to San Francisco, and then learns of similar murders in eight cities from Las Vegas to Charleston. Together with a female San Francisco detective, Cross plunges into a menacing world where posing explodes into bloodlust and frenzy, even as he is being stalked by a terrifying criminal who calls himself the Mastermind.James Patterson is at his most shocking and suspenseful best in a novel that will stun and satisfy his vast audience.
Fans of James Patterson's resourceful cop Alex Cross will be relieved to find that he's back on familiar territory with Violets Are Blue--and, more importantly, that this is one of the best Alex Cross thrillers yet.
The malign criminal genius of Roses Are Red is fixing to give Alex a hard time once again. The FBI joins Patterson's dogged cop in a particularly unsettling investigation: two San Francisco joggers have been viciously murdered and are found suspended by their feet, with all the blood drained from their corpses. And when further brutal deaths follow in California and on the East Coast, Alex is forced to contemplate the bizarre possibility of modern-day vampires, although his instincts point him to one of the many sinister religious cults that flourish on the West Coast. Aided by Jamilla Hughes, a streetwise young woman detective from San Francisco, Alex finds that he has to crack not one but two impenetrable mysteries to stop further bloodletting.
Patterson fans expect the extremely concise, page-turning chapters (116 of them here!), along with a reluctance to dawdle over details of his hero's personal life, and both characteristics are firmly back in place. If you can resist reading this one in just a few sittings, you deserve some kind of a thriller reader's medal. --Barry Forshaw, Amazon.co.uk
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Audiobooks on Cassette
- Audiobooks on CD
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- e-Books
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Top 40 Books I've Read Over the Past Few Years
Now I Can Die in Peace: How ESPN's Sports Guy Found Salvation, with a Little Help from Nomar, Pedro, Shawshank and the 2004by Bill Simmons
ESPN; Published: 2006-09-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops:
The Curse of the Bambinoby Dan Shaughnessy
Published: 2004-08-31; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.48
Price in other shops:
Violets Are Blueby James Patterson
Published: 2001-11-19; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.85
Price in other shops:
Pop Goes the Weaselby James Patterson
Grand Central Publishing; Published: 2000-10; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.00
Price in other shops:
London Bridges (Alex Cross Novel)by James Patterson
Amazon Remainders Account; Published: 2004-11-08; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.10
Kiss the Girls (Alex Cross)by James Patterson
Grand Central Publishing; Published: 2000-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.96
Price in other shops:
Jack & Jill (Alex Cross)by James Patterson
Grand Central Publishing; Published: 2003-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.00
Price in other shops:
Four Blind Miceby James Patterson
Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.98
Price in other shops:
Crossby James Patterson
Little, Brown and Company; Published: 2006-11-13; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $2.98
Price in other shops:
The Big Bad Wolf: A Novel (Alex Cross novels)by James Patterson
Published: 2003-10-31; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.90
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Mary, Mary (Alex Cross Novels)by James Patterson
Published: 2005-11-14; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.67
Price in other shops:
Kiss the Girls (Alex Cross)by James Patterson
Grand Central Publishing; Published: 2000-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.96
Price in other shops:
Along Came a Spider (Alex Cross)by James Patterson
Grand Central Publishing; Published: 2003-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.21
Price in other shops:
London Bridges (Alex Cross Novel)by James Patterson
Amazon Remainders Account; Published: 2004-11-08; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.23
Price in other shops:
The Big Bad Wolf: A Novel (Alex Cross novels)by James Patterson
Published: 2003-10-31; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.77
Price in other shops:
Jack & Jill (Alex Cross)by James Patterson
Vision; Published: 1997-11-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.00
Price in other shops:
Cat & Mouse (Alex Cross)by James Patterson
Vision; Published: 1998-11-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.94
Price in other shops:
Four Blind Miceby James Patterson
Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.99
Price in other shops:
Pop Goes the Weaselby James Patterson
Grand Central Publishing; Published: 2000-10; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.93
Price in other shops:
Roses Are Redby James Patterson
Published: 2000-11; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.99
Price in other shops: