Four Blind Mice

Starred review from October 7, 2002
With Patterson continuing to move in unexpected directions (his next novel, The Jester, due out in March 2003, is a medieval adventure), it's a pleasure to see him touch home base with another Alex Cross thriller—this one the best Cross yet. The mice of the title are three homicidal Army Rangers, Vietnam vets, and their mysterious controller; as is usual in the Cross novels, we know this much sooner than does the black Washington, D.C., detective, who gets involved when an army careerist, Sgt. Ellis Cooper, an old pal of Cross's colleague and best friend, John Sampson, is found guilty at military trial for the brutal murder of three women, but claims innocence. Traveling to North Carolina, where Cooper awaits execution, and to Fort Bragg to investigate, Cross and Sampson encounter stonewalling among the military—which only intensifies as they uncover a pattern of other military men executed for like crimes they may not have committed. As the duo visits West Point, they confront an even thicker "gray" wall of silence. Meanwhile, the killers strike again, and when Cross and Sampson identify them, the Rangers begin hunting the cops. The action leads, as is Patterson's custom, to a firecracker string of climaxes; the finale finds Cross handcuffed and stripped naked in deep woods, about to be killed. Throughout, Patterson expertly balances the conspiratorial action with intriguing developments in Cross's domestic life, including health problems for his family's anchor, the elderly Nana, and growing romance between him and a California cop. Everything clicks in this novel, from Patterson's patented short chapters (115 here) to the whiplash plotting. This may not be high lit, but it sure is entertainment. Agent, Jennifer Rudolph Walsh at William Morris. (Nov. 18)Forecast:There will be a five-city author tour and a major media blitz for this book, but Patterson could probably hide in a bunker during publication and see this hit number one.

February 3, 2003
This audio version of Patterson's latest Alex Cross thriller moves smoothly and with great energy. The story is one of Patterson's best: just as Cross is about to retire from the Washington, D.C., police and head out to California to pursue an attractive romantic possibility, he's pulled into an intriguing case in North Carolina by his partner and best friend, John Sampson, who asks Cross to help him prove that an old Vietnam colleague of Sampson's couldn't have killed three women in a particularly brutal manner. With two excellent readers splitting up the good guys' and bad guys' voices between them, the story never wanes or goes off-track. Broadway veteran Fernandez gives a strong performance of Cross and Sampson and adroitly brings Cross's crotchety grandmother to life. Emerson frighteningly portrays the villains, subtly differentiating the characters with his voice. Simultaneous release with the Little, Brown hardcover (Forecasts, Oct. 7).

July 15, 2002
Alex Cross must go up against the U.S. Army when an old friend is framed for murder. Hotter than Violets Are Blue, insists the publisher and that book sold nearly one million copies.

Copyright 2002 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from October 15, 2002
In the latest Alex Cross thriller, his partner, John Sampson, takes center stage. A friend of John's, U.S. Army Sergeant Cooper, has been convicted of murdering three women. The military higher-ups are convinced that it's an open-and-shut case, but John knows that his friend is innocent. Their investigation is hampered at every turn, as if the army doesn't care to have the truth revealed, even when Cross and Sampson uncover other military men who were possibly framed for murder. Meanwhile, the real killers, who are methodical in covering their tracks and leaving incriminating evidence pointing to their targets, discover the investigation and decide to mark Cross and Sampson for extermination. This time around, Patterson's story is more personal than plot-driven, and there are a lot fewer plot twists than one usually finds in a Patterson novel. Still, Four Blind Mice is a vast improvement over the previous two Alex Cross thrillers (Roses Are Red, Violets Are Blue), which were both poorly written and unnecessarily gruesome, with a number of unrealistic passages. Libraries won't be able to keep this new book on the shelves. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 7/02.]-Jeff Ayers, Seattle P.L.

Copyright 2002 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2002
Alex Cross is on the brink of retirement from the Washington Police Force when his best friend, John Sampson, comes to him with an urgent request. Sampson's friend, Sergeant Ellis Cooper, has just been convicted by a military court for the murders of three women. Cooper swears he's innocent, and Sampson believes him. Cross and Sampson head to North Carolina to investigate, but they're discouraged by the military stonewalling. Cross digs deeper and learns that Cooper isn't the first model officer to be convicted of brutal murders--other military men around the country have been accused, convicted, and even executed for crimes that bear a striking similarity to the murders Cooper supposedly committed. E-mails from an anonymous person who calls himself Foot Soldier supply Cross with clues and information, but Cross isn't sure he can trust the mysterious informant. A more pleasant distraction awaits Cross--Jamilla Hughes, a detective he worked with in "Violets Are Blue" (2001) comes to visit, and sparks fly between the two. Cross isn't the only one who finds love--Sampson is growing close to the widow of one of the executed military men. But when the search for the killers leads back to the army and men who fought in Vietnam, both Cross and Sampson will risk their lives to catch the killers. Patterson delivers another exciting thriller, with some intriguing new developments for Cross. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2002, American Library Association.)