Cat & Mouse (Alex Cross)

Alex Cross is back in a novel with a cast of characters more sinister and deadlier than ever. Gary Soneji, a dying prison escapee, is looking for revenge on Cross, while another insane killer is pursued by Thomas Augustine Pierce--a brilliant and relentless detective who may even be better than Cross. As the bodies pile up, and Cross is nearly murdered in his own home, the game of cat and mouse leads to one final trap, and it's anyone's guess who will survive.

Average Customer Review: ( 351 customer reviews )
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.

This book has a good balance of scenes between Cross' personal life (his loving grandmother, his huge best friend Samson, his two beautiful children, and their teacher whom he is falling in love with) and business life.

The book is very easy to follow and goes by at a very quick pace. The characters were realistic along with the plot.

The thing that I liked most about the book was the way Patterson told the story. I actually found myself feeling sorry for the bad guys as well as the good, which usually never happens.

I would recommend this book to anyone but be sure not to make the same mistake I made. I started the book late at night before I went to bed at about 11 o'clock. It was so good that I continued to read until three in the morning, which left me sleepy and irritable the next day at work. If you are going to read this book, be sure to start it when you have at least two hours of spare time.

P.S. Please read my other reviews.

8 of 8 found the following review helpful:

Exceptional thrillerDec 22, 2000
By Glenn McLeod
Cat and Mouse by James Patterson Warner Books, 1997

A former nemisis of Alex Cross, Gary Soneji, has escaped from jail and is intent on building his reputation as the best (worst?) serial killer in the world and to add Alex Cross to his growing list of victims. Shooting people like fish in a barrel in Washington and New York train stations brings Alex in close contact with this vicious psychopath whose final words seems to indicate that Cross and his family are doomed.

Meanwhile in Europe another serial killer nick named "Mr. Smith" is dispatching victims at and incredible rate and he too would like to end the career of Alex Cross. As Alex becomes involved in this case he must figure out the tantalizing clues left by the killer before he too becomes a victim of the brilliant "Mr. Smith".

A real page turner filled with incredible tension softened somewhat and made human by Alex's growing love for the beautiful Christine Johnson. For thriller readers a real must.

17 of 21 found the following review helpful:

ExcrutiatingDec 19, 1999
By M Emmer
I was grateful to see other one-star reviews. After seeing all the raves on the book itself, I thought I might be the only one who found this book truly awful. I finished it only out of curiosity (kind of like watching a roadside accident.)

I honestly think it may be one of the worst written books of any kind (not just thrillers) I have ever read. There must be some unwritten rule with Mr. Patterson that chapters end after 250 words, whether something meaningful has happened or not. Sometimes a chapter would end with Cross sitting down to think and the next chapter would begin with him standing up. (This is only a slight exaggeration.)

The 2 killers move from crime to crime without any explanation of their invulnerability. They escape, assume new disguises, change venues in the blink of an eye. Real police work is nonexistent.

Every now and then, Mr. Patterson uses exclamation points and a word like "hell" or "crazy" to show how breathtaking the story is: "We were in hell!" "Things were crazy!" Occasionally, words were put in italics, just to show that other print fonts were available.

Sometimes words were put in quotation marks without rhyme or reason. Example: Cross goes home and it felt like "being home." Of course it felt like being home! You are home, you moron!

The actual story had all the excitement of reading stereo instructions. There is no buildup to the final confrontation with Mr. Smith - and the revealed message that leads to that confrontation is ludicrous.

I must admit that I actually cried briefly at the end of the book, at the sheer relief of being finished with it.

8 of 9 found the following review helpful:

Dragons: Two, Cross: Zero...Now What?Sep 26, 2002
By Wendy Kaplan
Alex Cross is as close to a superhero as a mortal man can be, but even the self-proclaimed Dragon Slayer is in danger from two fiends at once: The psychopathic madman Gary Soneji, his arch rival from "Along Came the Spider"--and a new, even more psycho murderer named "Mr. Smith," who is cutting a wide swathe (literally) all over Europe and the United States.

Soneji is, incredibly, out of prison, and he has a mighty score to settle with Cross. So he drops a few hints--like sniper shootings at New York's Grand Central Station. Just for starters. We know that Soneji has Cross's house under surveillance, and that he knows way way too much about Cross's loved ones--his young son and daughter, and his beloved grandmother, Nana Mama. It's only a matter of time before his insane vengeance reaches Cross himself. Cross knows it too, but Soneji is a genius, and even Cross can't find him.

Juxtaposed against this mystery is the parallel one of the diabolical Mr. Smith, who has thus far eluded Interpol, Scotland Yard, the FBI, and hundreds of police from Europe and the US. He makes Soneji look like an amateur, and Cross very much does NOT want to get involved in the case, despite pleas from his FBI friends. Yeah, right. When you're the Dragon Slayer, you gotta slay the dragons! Cross is pulled in to the Smith case as well, and it's too much even for him.

While all this is going on, Cross is falling head over heels in love with teacher/school principal Christine, who we met in "Jack and Jill." Recently widowed, Christine isn't ready for a relationship. And Cross is so involved with the two murder cases, he can't give her all the time he wants. Worse--BOTH murderers know about her too...everyone Alex loves is in danger.

My only small criticism with the book is that it suddenly changes from one case to the other right in the middle of the story. And while it makes sense, since one situation has been solved, it is much too abrupt for this reader's comfort. We leave a key player (I won't do a spoiler here) near death--and suddenly that person is recovered and back in action. There's an explanation, but it was a bit too pat for my taste.

No matter, though. "Cat and Mouse" gallops along just like its predecessors, and made me love Alex Cross even more than before. I hope this series never ends!

See all 351 customer reviews on Amazon.com