Jack & Jill by James Patterson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
#45
I know that I am jumping into the Alex Cross series kind of in the middle, but I really like this character. He’s a nice blend of a tough street detective and a criminal minds style profiler but with a wonderful sense of humanity and sense of humor. I am noticing a pattern after just two of Patterson’s books – his detectives are single dads for whatever reason with some fantastic family member helping take care of the kids. Of course they are put into danger as often as possible and are also used to show you that softer side of your hero and most especially since he is single he can be off looking for some romance too 🙂 We get to meet Alex’s future love interest in this story. Quite convenient how one of the nasty killers Cross is hunting ends up taking out her poor husband. As with the first one, I love the writing style, the plot in this one was a little more to my liking though still with the deep dark conspiracy hanging over it so that the mystery is never *really* solved. That’s annoying, but since I like Cross and his friends and family so much, it didn’t bug. Must not have since I read it cover to cover in one day!
Cat & Mouse by James Patterson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
#46
Another one read within 24 hours start to finish. Still a lot of fun, but I didn’t enjoy it quite as much. I’m already getting bored with the criminal on an ego trip theme! Not enough to knock off a star obviously.
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When the Wind Blows by James Patterson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
#47
I really loved this one – almost whimsical somehow in the midst of a pretty horrific medical experimentation conspiracy plot. But the imagery of the flying kids was really breathtaking. Made for a an unusual & interesting twist to the usual fast paced Patterson mysteries.
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Roses Are Red by James Patterson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
#48
And…I’m bored COMPLETELY with the egocentric “I’m smarter than all of you” serial killers now. Alex Cross seems to attract them like moths to a flame & it is getting tiresome. Perhaps that is the downside of reading books in a series back to back to back like this. Characters get too predictable after a bit. Time for a break to make these seem fresh & interesting again. Or, hopefully, Patterson finds a different path to follow with Cross. I’m also tiring of his family/love interest always being put in harms way. And that his love interests either die or leave him.
I read ALL of these last weekend! 72 hours of reading fun. Loved it. Though I did learn that I should probably not read too many of the same series in one weekend as I did get bored & was able to predict some things. I’ve found a few author’s and series that I’ve liked this year that I intend to catch up on next year, but I think I will make sure & rotate them to keep it interesting!
Still – just four more to go to reach my goal of 52 for the year! I’m a little surprised at that. Of course, there’s other *stuff* I could have done but one thing I’ve figured out long ago is that really is just no way to do everything you’d like to do. And sometimes it is perfectly OK for weeds to grow 🙂
Trees & Flowers & Birds! 
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