Roses Are Red, by James Patterson

It is sometimes difficult to start reading a long series of books by starting in the middle, but that is what I did here with Roses Are Red, the sixth of twenty-one (and counting) Alex Cross novels. Patterson's simplistic writing style and accelerated pacing—we are in chapter ten within the first thirty pages— make it easy to jump in the middle, though. Detective Alex Cross is the hero, chasing an enigmatic villain calling himself the Mastermind while solving a string of deadly bank robberies. The identity of the Mastermind is revealed (to the reader but not to Cross) in the epilogue, setting up the next book in the series Violets Are Blue; the reveal is shocking only in that it seems completely out of character for the individual, although I suppose that is one facet of a sociopath.

I read this book (and the sequel) on a plane trip from Sacramento; as a distraction and a way to pass the time it did the job nicely. If you want a well-crafted suspense thriller, though, check out One Shot by Lee Child or The Club Dumas by Arturo Pérez-Reverte instead.

First Sentence:

Brianne Parker didn't look like a bank robber or a murderer — her pleasantly plump baby face fooled everyone.