Psychologist and homicide detective Dr. Alex Cross is back in James Patterson's "Cat & Mouse," but is he chasing the killer or is it the other way around?
Cross, last seen in Patterson's presidential assassination thriller "Jack and Jill" and played by Morgan Freeman on the big screen in "Kiss the Girls," returns to battle his old nemesis Gary Soneji. Soneji was the child-kidnapping psycho in Patterson's "Along Came a Spider" who has now escaped from prison and is seeking revenge for having been put there by Cross.
"Cat & Mouse" falls in the same line as Patterson's earlier novels with its sparse writing style, brooding psychos and constant plot twists. But his latest effort collapses under the strain of too many plot twists and a rather inconsistent narrative.
Soneji apparently has a master plan for Cross which begins with a massive shooting spree at Penn Station in Washington, D.C. From there, Soneji heads to New York City for another train station massacre.
All the while Soneji makes sure to leave little calling cards that only Cross would find: a few meticulously placed drops of blood, a prison buddy resurfacing with a shocking story and a cleverly murdered wife and dog.
Cross, after years of being driven by his job, has finally put his personal life back in order. His all-too-perfect kids are still running about and the relationship with grade school principal Christine Johnson that started in "Jack and Jill" is continued here.
"Cat & Mouse" delves further into Cross' personal life than any of the previous novels, which may be seen as somewhat useless and boring to those who have not kept up with the Cross series. But for those who have followed the series, it is nice to finally see Cross' life take a turn for the better.
Meanwhile, across the Atlantic another psychotic killer, Mr. Smith, is giving autopsies to live subjects. The public has come to the conclusion that Mr. Smith must be an alien since his 18 murders have been so horrid yet skillfully done.
He is being tracked by FBI whiz-kid Thomas Pearce. Like the Cross/Soneji relationship, Mr. Smith leaves little messages for Pearce, whose girlfriend was his first victim.
The two parallel plots have nothing to do with each other until Cross is nearly killed and Pearce has to fill in on the Soneji case. And in an even more jolting, if mildly interesting twist, the first person narrative which usually belongs to Cross is suddenly taken up by Pearce midway through the book.
It is here that Patterson's usually strong and brisk narrative gets bogged down in a muddled plot.
Pearce is now chasing both Soneji and Mr. Smith and it turns out that Cross and the FBI are chasing someone else altogether. All these plot twists begin to change the story too much and strain credibility. It feels like three books merged into one.
The first- person narrative is eventually handed back to Cross, who reveals the true identity of Mr. Smith. From then on it is one redundant chase scene after another.
Patterson's depiction of Cross' psychological hypotheses are never the strongest part of his novels, but they are laughable in his latest work.
In "Cat & Mouse," Patterson gives Cross' crackerjack psychology far too much weight in furthering the plot. They always have a sort of grade school corniness to them. Cross and Pearce make wild guesses as to where bodies are buried simply because Soneji once stole a train set (don't ask).
You have to groan when reading some of them and feel almost insulted that Patterson would try to push them on you.
It was not a bad idea for a novel -- two killers and two lawmen all chasing each other -- but the book could have ended many times before it reaches its dragged-out conclusion.
