Four
Blind Mice by James Patterson is the eighth in the Alex Cross series. In
this novel, Cross is faced with a series of brutal murders perpetrated by army
soldiers with impeccable military histories. The book a “why done it” (to
borrow another reviewer’s excellent descriptive phrase). From the very first
scene, the reader knows who are the murderers are, but not why they are killing.
As the novel opens, Alex Cross, Washington D.C. detective and widowed father of
two, is trying to decide if he really wants to leave the DCPD to join the FBI
or to enter private practice, but before he can decide John Sampson, his police
partner and long time friend, has approached him with a favor. Sampson asks
Cross to investigate the charges against Sergeant Ellis Cooper, a former army
buddy from Sampson’s service in Vietnam. Cooper has been convicted of heinously
murdering three army wives and is sitting on death row. Cooper swears that he
is innocent, but the evidence against him is irrefutable. Sampson feels that
Cooper could not have committed the crime. What the reader knows that Cross and
Sampson do not is that Thomas Starkey, Brownley Harris, and Warren Griffin,
three former Army Rangers from Vietnam have been paid to commit the crime and
to plant evidence in order to set Cooper up for the fall. This pattern of
murder and framing yet another victim is not new to them they have done this
before to other soldiers, however, what even the killers do not know is who is
paying them and why. Cross and Sampson race stop at nothing to save Cooper’s
life, unfortunately their efforts fail, and Cooper still protesting his
innocence is executed. As Cross and Sampson continue to dig, they discovered
the pattern of other army men with impeccable records executed for similarly
heinous murders who died protesting their innocence. Unfortunately, the more
Cross and Sampson attempt to dig into the men’s military history and
background, the more they are met with the “grey wall of silence” that refuses
them interviews and denies them access to military records. Meanwhile, Cross is
exploring a long-distance relationship with Jamilla Hughes, a San Francisco
detective with whom he worked on a previous case (Violets are Blue) and John Sampson is getting rather chummy with
Billie Houston, a widow of an earlier victim of Starkey, Harris, and Griffin.
In addition, Nana Mama, Cross’ mother and caretaker of his children is faced
with serious ill-health complicating matters on the Cross’ home front. Finally,
Cross begins receiving fax and email from “Foot Soldier” a mysterious source of
information that knows way too much about the murders and Cross’ personal life,
and seems to point directly to a mastermind criminal that Cross has previously
put in prison.

Four Blind
Mice is filled with interesting characters. Cross and Sampson are an
interesting dichotomy. Growing up in the same neighborhood as boyhood friends,
Cross walked the straight and narrow, college, medical school, marriage, and
into the police force. Sampson, on the other hand, took a more crooked path –
troubled youth, the army, bachelorhood, and into the force. In this novel, both
Cross and Sampson confront critical relational challenges. After the murder of
his wife, Cross faces the crisis of dating again and Sampson, the confirmed
bachelor, looks at the prospect of marriage. In addition, each must confront
their feelings about what will happen to their friendship, their partnership,
and their professional prospects if Cross decides to leave the police
department.

I have one major complaint about the book. Four Blind Mice is definitely a book
within a sequence of books. It presupposes knowledge about Detective Jamilla Hughes
and the convicted killer Kyle Craig. While I could follow the plot easily,
these characters bring with them a history that I, having not read any previous
Alex Cross novels, lacked. I particularly felt the lack in regards to
information about Craig who might or might not be involved in the murders. Does
one have to begin with the first Cross book to know the scoop? Probably, but it
seems that at least a reading of Violets
are Blue might be in order to have background on Hughes and Craig. Less
critical readers than I may feel less frustrated, but I wished I had started
further down the reading chain.

James Patterson is the author of
many international bestsellers. Patterson grew up in Newburgh, New York. He
graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in English from Manhattan College and
summa cum laude with an M.A. in English from Vanderbilt University. He
currently lives in Palm Beach County, Florida. His debut novel, The Thomas Berryman Number (1976), won
the Edgar Award for the best first mystery novel. His novels include: Season of the Machete (1977), The Jericho Commandment (1979), Virgin (1980, rewritten in 2000 as Cradle and All), Black Market (1986), The
Midnight Club (1989), Hide and Seek
(1996), See How They Run (1997), When the Wind Blows (1998), and Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas (July
2001). He also has two popular and successful series. "The Women’s Murder
Club" series includes: 1st to Die
(2001) and 2nd Chance (2002). The series featuring Alex Cross includes: Came A Spider (1993), Kiss the Girls (1995), Jack and Jill (1996), Cat and Mouse (1997), Pop Goes the Weasel (1999), Roses are Red (2000), Violets are Blue (2001), and Four Blind Mice (November 2002). The Jester written with Andrew Gross will
be released in March 2003. Patterson’s official website is: http://www.jamespatterson.com

Peter J. Fernandez and Michael
Emerson narrate the unabridged
audiobook of Four Blind Mice. Fernandez is an actor who has appeared on
Broadway in Jelly’s Last Jam and in The Merchant of Venice with Dustin
Hoffman. He has also narrated Patterson’s Roses
are Red and Connelly’s City of Bones.
Emerson is an actor who has appeared in the films Unfaithful, The Laramie Project, and The Imposters and has appeared on television in The X-Files, Law & Order, The Practice and The District. The added sound effects
and occasion background music are a wonderful addition to this audiobook.

Four
Blind Mice by James Patterson is very engrossing. Do not start listening to this audio book at night without
calculating the 7.5-hour listening time. It will keep you up until the surprise
ending. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this novel with the above caveat
about Violets are Blue. I highly
recommended it.

© 2003 Su Terry