Cat and Mouse by James Patterson

Cat and Mouse by James Patterson is the fourth book in the Alex Cross series. I listened to the unabridged version on audio book. Like many of the other Alex Cross novels, Patterson alternates between first person and third person. There are also two separate killers. Alex and Samson have to find them both.

Gary Soneji from Along Came a Spider returns in Cat and Mouse. As I mentioned in my post about Along Came a Spider, I listed to an abridged version of Along Came a Spider, so maybe the next comment is a little biased, but I felt like Soneji was a totally different character in Cat and Mouse. I liked Soneji in Along Came a Spider, and even kind of rooted for him. He was much more fatalistic in Cat and Mouse. I felt like Soneji was a flat character this time around.

There is another detective named Thomas Pierce who makes an appearance in Cat and Mouse. There are even some chapters in first person through Thomas' perspective. This jarred me because I was completely used to the pattern of first person being reserved for Alex's voice only in Along Came a Spider, Kiss the Girls, Jack & Jill, and Cross. The break with the pattern took me awhile to get used to.

One thing that I did like about Cat and Mouse, and just about the only thing that helped me rate it as 3 stars rather than 2 1/2 stars was that I got to know Sampson better. Maybe Patterson does it later in the series, but I'd like for a whole book to be in Sampson's voice. I like Sampson as much as I do Alex Cross. I smile every time he calls Alex, "Sugar."

The twists in this book just didn't cut it for me. Without having a spoiler, I'll just say that when Thomas Pierce gets involved beyond the Mr. Pierce murder case investigating with Sampson, Patterson lost me. Had this been the first book I'd plucked out of the series, I wouldn't have read or listened to any more. Luckily, I was already hooked from the other books so far in the series.