FOUR BLIND MICE
James Patterson
Warner Vision
Mystery
ISBN: 0446613266

Alex Cross and John Sampson track down a gang of killers who execute with military precision...

James Patterson seems to be spending every waking minute writing. I'm too laz --- er, too busy right now to check, but I think that FOUR BLIND MICE is the third book he's had published this year. He has a strong trademark character with Alex Cross, and writes a number of "stand-alone" novels as well just to keep the mix varied. FOUR BLIND MICE is the latest --- and possibly the best --- installment of the Cross novels. It combines Patterson's trademark literary style --- short sentences and brief scenes which keep the narrative moving along --- while providing Cross with a change of scene from the standpoint of both geography and plot.

FOUR BLIND MICE begins with Cross being asked by his lifelong friend John Sampson to assist him in coming to the aid of Ellis Cooper, another old friend of Sampson's. Cooper, a sergeant in the U.S. Army, has been convicted of a triple homicide. The case was practically open-and-shut: there is DNA evidence; the murders were committed with Cooper's knife; and he was observed at the scene of the crime. The only exculpatory evidence which Cross and Sampson have is the eyewitness account of a young boy who lives next door to the home where the murders took place. His account: there were three men at the home at the time of the murder.

Patterson lets his reader know almost immediately that Cooper is being framed, and lets us know that the boy is correct: there are three murderers --- The Three Blind Mice --- who are highly trained killers in the midst of a murder spree for hire. While the identities of the killers are revealed early on to the reader, the question remains as to who is their shadowy, mysterious employer whose identity and motive is unknown even to the murderers. Cross and Sampson, through dogged, good old-fashioned police work, slowly learn for themselves what was revealed to the reader and find that the trail ultimately and unexpectedly leads back into Cross' own past, with possible repercussions for his future.

Patterson continues in FOUR BLIND MICE his practice of letting Cross and his supporting characters slowly evolve and develop. Cross makes a big change in his life in FOUR BLIND MICE and appears to be on the verge of making another. Sampson makes a totally unexpected change in his life as well. And as for Cross' family, well...they are as real as one can find in mystery fiction. Patterson's ever-evolving ability to balance Cross' professional and personal life as a backdrop to a suspenseful manhunt is ultimately responsible for the ongoing popularity of this series, which has translated, in turn, to success for his non-Cross novels as well. Patterson shows no sign of slowing down at this point, and his legion of fans --- large, and growing ever larger --- will undoubtedly continue to clamor for more.

   --- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

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