James Patterson. Violets Are Blue (2001) 393 pp.
The case is difficult enough for Washington DC police detective Alex Cross because the alleged victim was a good friend. The case turns frightening for Alex when the brilliant but amoral criminal the Mastermind threatens Alex’s children. Alex immediately leaves the crime scene to return home, but the Mastermind reminds the cop you can run, but you can’t hide. Then FBI Agent Kyle Craig calls Alex. Someone has killed two joggers in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. Bite marks are all over the victims, much of their blood was drained, and they were left hanging upside down from a tree. The case reads identical to one that they failed to solve in DC fourteen months ago, so Alex immediately flies to San Francisco. Joined by SFPD Inspector Jamilla Hughes, Alex begins to find clues that take the duo into a deadly role-playing underground. However, his children are irate that his work comes first especially with the Mastermind stalking them like a tiger after its quarry. [Alex Cross was portrayed on screen by Morgan Freeman in the 1997 adaptation of Patterson’s Kiss the Girls, co-starring Ashley Judd.].

H.K.