Customer Reviews

Mary, Mary (Alex Cross Novels)

5 star:		(75)
4 star:		(59)
3 star:		(33)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

After James Patterson's last Alex Cross novel London Bridges, I was beginning to think that the Cross character had perhaps run its course. So with a little trepidation, I picked up Mary, Mary from the library. It now appears that London Bridges was an anomaly, and Patterson/Cross are back on track.

Alex Cross is vacationing with his kids and grandmother at Disneyland, when he gets a call asking for a short one day consult on a celebrity killing in LA. Reluctant to give up his vacation time, he decides to make this one exception. That was his first mistake... While he was gone, the mother of his 3 year old shows up and takes the child back to Seattle, while also petitioning the court for permanent custody. His ongoing romance to Jamilla is also floundering, so he's left with little social life and a feeling that his personal life as a father is failing. The Mary Smith killer is keeping him occupied however. Pretty soon he finds himself traveling coast to coast on a regular basis helping the LAPD analyze the emails and clues as to who "Mary Smith", the killer, might be, as well as who might next be in the sights of the killer. And even when they have a person in custody who fits all the evidence, Cross isn't quite sure there isn't something else going on...

The action part of the story line for this novel was good. There are a number of characters that Patterson puts "in play" as potential suspects, and there's really not much elimination until the end. I was completely surprised at the twist ending, which was good. From a character standpoint, Patterson has set up Cross for some significant romantic changes ahead. All the regular players are moved out of the picture, and a few new ones make their appearance. All goes to show that Patterson isn't done with this series... And if they continue to play out along these lines instead of London Bridges, that will be a good thing...

Well I must admit I did wonder if Patterson had another great Alex Cross adventure in him after recent efforts where he seems to have got confused between his star character being Alex Cross or James Bond. I am happy to say though that this is another excellent traditional style Cross adventure with one of the best serial killers yet, that will have readers guessing their identity until it is revealed near the end. Speaking of the ending though I thought it was a little but unrealistically convenient so Alex could be around for the next sequel. That's all I'll say on that though so as not to give it away to anyone who actually reads these reviews before making a decision to purchase books.

Overall I was very pleased with Mary, Mary and recommend it to any fan of quality Alex Cross adventures. I also recommend Patterson's previous novel (not an Alex Cross Adventure) Lifeguard which shows he can still write great stand alone novels as well, again some in this line have been rather average of late. Anyway its great to see Patterson back and hopefully he has learnt from the extensive criticism he got from his mediocre novels and will continue to put the time into producing the great work that we know he can and we all want to read.

Mary Mary by James Patterson is typical of his Alex Cross novels-- single dad Alex tries to juggle parenting and career along with a love life. This book centers around a series of murders of Hollywood mothers, with the killer sending emails to a Hollywood reporter and signing them as "Mary." FBI Agent Alex is pulled off a vacation with his family to Disneyland to help the LAPD with the case, although they are not exactly appreciative of his help.

I do enjoy the Alex Cross novels; I appreciate that Cross is a loving father and his conflict between taking care of his children and satisfying the demands of his job. The plot in this book, however, has holes big enough to drive a Zamboni through. The motivation for the face slashing of the victims is never adequately explained-- or, I should say, the slashing of the original victim is never explained satisfactorily. How the killer eventually catches up to Alex at the end is another big question. In this, as in so many other books, Patterson does not play fair-- he withholds crucial information till the end of the book in order to be able to keep the identity of the killer a surprise.

Underlying the main story is another continuing storyline of Alex's attempts to gain custody of his son, Ali, from his ex-wife, Christine. There are hints all the way through the novel that something is going on with Christine, but we never find out what, nor do we find out what causes her big change of heart at the end.

This is my continuing problem with the Alex Cross novels-- Alex Cross is a good, interesting character and the plots are taut and original. But Patterson does not seem to be confident enough in his own abilities as a writer to give the reader all the information necessary throughout the book. He withholds information and then, at the end, after he's almost reluctantly divulged everything in the space of about two pages, he abruptly stops the book before we have a chance to absorb the sudden disclosures and resolve everything in our own minds.

I really, REALLY mean it this time - - NO MORE PATTERSON BOOKS FOR ME!!! This was the sorriest excuse yet! His publishing company must have paid some of the critics well - I finally gave in and bought this after hearing one of them state -- "the scariest Alex Cross novel yet!!!" Yeah, right!!! The scariest part was the child-custody hearing - I'm sitting there reading chapter after chapter about his child-custody fight??? WTF???

Speaking of Chapters - chapter breaks appeared every-other page!!! In the middle of a thought!!! Patterson must've gotten paid by the page rather than by the word!

The ending was far-fetched and nowhere close to believable. So he got the idea from an inmate of a psychiatric hospital??? So what made him so DRIVEN to continue killing??? Please!

My 8-year-old granddaughter could've done a better job!

Shame on you, James Patterson!!!

Alex Cross, FBI agent, takes his family on a vacation to Disneyland - the first in a long time. Of course he couldn't expect to have a real vacation and he doesn't. On the first day he gets a call from the Los Angeles office that an actress has been murdered and they want his assistance. The murderer has also sent an email to a journalist describing the murder in detail. The email is signed "Mary Smith." The mysterious Mary Smith strikes again and again, killing well-known movie and TV figures and always, she sends her email message to take credit and explain her actions. Can a woman really be such a vicious serial killer? In every case, the woman she kills is the mother of young children. Alex and LAPD attempt to put a motive to Mary's killings; is she a disgruntled wanna-be movie star?

In the middle of the stress of the case, Jamilla, Alex's present lady friend, leaves him; the mother of his three-year-old son, Alex, Jr., comes to Los Angeles to take him back to Seattle and Nana Mama and the kids have to cut their vacation short. As Alex crisscrosses the country searching for clues, he is embroiled in family drama and relationship chaos. Nana Mama has some health issues and Dr. Kayla, the only person Nana Mama will listen to, must be called. On the soothing side, he reconnects with his childhood buddy, Sampson who is married and has a newborn daughter.

MARY MARY is definitely one of James Patterson's best Alex Cross mysteries. James Patterson gives enough background filler so that those who have never picked up an Alex Cross mystery will not be lost. The action was non-stop, both in the murder arena and also in Alex's private life. Each page seemed to have new and vital drama that forced me to continue reading. Alex becomes a truly three-dimensional character as we watch him juggle his professional life with his love life and his family life. To say that this is a delicious mystery is to fall short of what it really is. I highly recommend this book to all Alex Cross fans and to those who've never "met" the man.

Reviewed by Alice Holman
of The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers

I have read every one of Patterson's books. This was good, but I want to see more content and depth in his future books. Story was good, I would have liked to see more character development, but would still recommend.

We're a longtime Patterson reader and definitely prefer his solo-authored series featuring Alex Cross, now a top FBI specialist, to most of his collaborations with other writers in which presumably our famous author doesn't have time to do more than sketch out the plot. "Mary" has the thrills and chills we've come to expect from Patteron's better novels: a compelling plot, where we get to follow the flow of events from both the killer's and the cops'/chasers' viewpoints; a surprise or two at the end to please; and some more about Cross's family dilemmas, especially regarding the child Alex fathered with girlfriend Christina.

The enjoyable storyline is about a sicko serial killer who dubs himself/herself (?) "the Storyteller", who proceeds to knock off successful Hollywood women and mothers, with emails from one "Mary Smith" sent to the LA Times explaining the deeds in detail. The newspaper coverage only serves to feed public outcry and sensationalize all aspects of the case. Moreover, competition between the FBI and LAPD's pursuits is a common footnote to much of the proceedings. But too many murders eventually spawn clues, even if Cross is about the only one clever enough to follow them. And in the end, we're quite surprised by the identity of the perpetrator. Indeed, many readers will feel a little cheated that the killer's motives, and the clues leading to concluding whodunit, were topics poorly treated. Sometimes the bit about Cross and his kids gets a little tiresome; and how that all played out seemed a little unrealistic given the custody battle occupying much of the earlier parts of the book. But as usual, Patterson's short but active chapters create tremendous suspense and contribute to his latest being hard to put down.

While some of these quibbles detract a little from this best-seller, most will enjoy it thoroughly and find this an excellent example of what propels each new Alex Cross story up the A-list!

Listening to voice performances of the sterling trio made up of Peter J. Fernandez, Michael Louis Wells, and Melissa, Leo, one is reminded again of the pleasure of hearing an accomplished ensemble. Their voices carry the incendiary plot from murder to personal conflicts to danger and, finally, to a startling finish. Listeners who enjoy a pulse pounding scenario will be more than rewarded by the work of these fine actors.

There's no rest for the weary and certainly none for popular hero Alex Cross when his life is scripted by the prolific pen of James Patterson. Just when Cross thought he was going to enjoy a much anticipated vacation at Disneyland with his family, the call comes.

He's needed by the LAPD to help them with an atrocious crime. A popular movie actress has been murdered, her beautiful face lacerated. Further the killer, who calls herself Mary Smith, wants full credit for this horrendous act. She emails a gossip columnist to describe the killing in gruesome detail. Another killing follows.

While zanys do abound in LaLa Land, Cross has absolutely no idea who the killer might be. But, he must discover something before another murder takes place. .To add to his turmoil, he's embroiled in a custody battle, a fight for his youngest son.

Mary's internet postings give a new, dark meaning to "You've Got Mail," and Patterson give new meaning to thrillers with this astounding tale.

- Gail Cooke

Women on Hollywood's A-list are being murdered. The kills are vicious, and therefore personal. A good twist in this story is the You've Got Mail aspect as an entertainment writer receives missives written to the dead women through his email. The messages detail exactly how the murder occurred even to the surprise on the victim's faces; they are signed Mary Smith.

Alex Cross takes his family on a vacation to Disney's California Adventure. Christine (his x-fiancée) allowed him to bring his son Alex, who is about three-years old here.

Some of the points that hurt the verisimilitude of the story are: there are very few rides for small children at the California Adventure, and Disneyland would have been a better choice; he is taken on a 40 minute drive to Los Angeles in rush hour traffic - that trip, though no further than 40 miles, during rush hour would take closer to 80 and sometimes 120 minutes; and lastly the 405 freeway was referred to as the San Diego freeway - it doesn't go to San Diego -- it is a junction freeway between two sections of the 5. Since Alex headed north it would be referred to as the Santa Monica Freeway.

However, these little nits that show a lack of research do not detract from the mystery. Several story lines are intertwined with the gory murder. One is a romantic encounter with his current flame Jamilla, who flew down from San Francisco for an afternoon tryst with her lover. Next is a serious and ugly custody hearing about the fate of Little Alex. The Mary Smith vignettes, which show she could not possibly be a killer, and the murders themselves.

Alex Cross is up to the challenges and this is one of the better books in the series. Patterson lost the strong character connection in London Bridges, Four Blind Mice, and The Big Bad Wolf, but hits the target here.

What I love about the Alex Cross novels, and I have read almost all of them, is the character development. Patterson is so masterful a writer in these books that I wouldn't be surprised to discover there is a family living in the DC area. The plots are strong and different in each of these books.

This was a one day read. An absolute page turner filled with angst and joy. Alex Cross solves the murders with strong and creative investigative skills.

A five star book.

FBI Special Agent Alex Cross has taken a rare vacation with Nana and his three kids. Even his current love Jamilla Hughes comes to visit him. However, a serial killer named Mary Smith has murdered several big Hollywood luminaries and the FBI tracks Alex down at Disneyland to recruit his assistance. Despite some choppiness in the narrative, the action is exciting as the LAPD and the FBI try to converge on the deranged suspect. His ex-partner and best friend John Sampson is clumsily added into this storyline. His ex-flame Christine torments him with no rational explanation regarding her attempts to claim full custody of their son. Alex's life is in jeopardy once again when he discovers the mastermind behind Mary. Alex Cross could never be a part of a dreadful novel; but this one left me unsatisfied.