Product Description

Alex Cross is back in a novel with a cast of characters more sinister and deadlier than ever. Gary Soneji, a dying prison escapee, is looking for revenge on Cross, while another insane killer is pursued by Thomas Augustine Pierce--a brilliant and relentless detective who may even be better than Cross. As the bodies pile up, and Cross is nearly murdered in his own home, the game of cat and mouse leads to one final trap, and it's anyone's guess who will survive.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9394 in Books
• Published on: 1998-11-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 480 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780446606189
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Amazon.com Review
That monstrous villain Gary Soneji is back in Cat & Mouse, the fourth book in James Patterson's series about Alex Cross, a police forensic psychologist, but he's not alone. In seeming support of the premise that you can never have too much of a bad thing, Patterson has thrown a second serial killer into the mix: Mr. Smith, a mysterious killer terrorizing Europe while Soneji practices his own brand of evil along the Eastern Seaboard. With two killers to track, Cross has his hands full--and Patterson has another hit.

From Library Journal
Fans of Patterson's Alex Cross series will be delighted with this latest installment. Reappearing is Christine Johnson, seen in an earlier Cross novel, Jack & Jill (LJ 8/96) and the principal at his children's school, and Cross has fallen in love with her. Gary Soneji, the creepy kidnapper and murderer from another Cross book, has broken out of jail and embarked on a new killing spree, again taunting Cross that he can't stop him. And one of his intended targets is Cross and his family. If that isn't enough, there's a new serial killer whose murders are so inhuman that the news media are suggesting that he's an alien from another planet. All story lines connect in this thriller, whose driving plot will distract you from thinking about its implausibilities and keep you turning pages to the last, when you'll find yourself impatiently awaiting the arrival of the next Cross novel. Recommended for public libraries.?Charles Michaud, Turner Free Lib., Randolph, Mass.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews
Archly improbable multiple psychokiller tale featuring Patterson's dignified Washington, D.C., detective, Alex Cross (Jack and Jill, 1996, etc.). Gary Soneji, the hyperactive bad boy who escaped from prison at the end of Along Came a Spider (1993), has AIDS. Before he dies (or even suffers any of the disease's ghastly symptoms), he wants to avenge himself on Cross, who helped capture him. After creeping into the Cross family cellar and ominously rifling the laundry, Soneji, who (we learn) developed a psychotic fixation with trains when he was denied a Lionel set as a child, departs on a series of cinematic massacres along Amtrak Metroliner stops, leaving drops of Cross's blood as clues. Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, another psychokiller, calling himself Mr. Smith, is literally cutting a swath through Paris and London, pursued by the fanatically methodical, ponytailed FBI profiler Thomas Pierce. Cross doggedly pursues Soneji to New York, pausing between crime scene visits to romance recently widowed school principal Christine Johnson at the Rainbow Room. Patterson's soulless, breathlessly plotted exercise in bait-and-switch manipulation reaches the first of many false climaxes beneath Grand Central terminal, where Cross apparently kills Soneji. A few pages later, the widower Cross and his family are nearly murdered by a masked man claiming to be Soneji. Enter twitchy Thomas Pierce, who must make one too many references to the Twin Peaks TV show before revealing that he and Mr. Smith might be the same man. A bulky pack of unsolved plot puzzles and ludicrous butchery, ending in a shameless cliff-hanger. Having reached the peak of his popularity, Patterson is spinning his wheels. ($1,000,000 ad/promo; Literary Guild main selection; author tour) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Customer Reviews

Alex Cross has met his match!
Alex Cross, James Patterson's returning character, is truly one today's greatest, most well developed 'hero' found in print! In Cat and Mouse, Cross's fourth book, the reader is sent on a roller coaster ride of plot twists all written in an almost groundbreaking 'change of perspective' style. Live the unfolding mystery through Alex Cross's eyes and others around him as they interact with one another in an attempt to stop the returning villian from Patterson's previous book Along Came a Spider-Gary Soneji. Or is it someone else? In this book Patterson has topped himself once again concerning the 'fleshing out' of his star Alex Cross. The interaction between the detective and those around him such as his children, mother and love interest creates a spellbinding atmosphere that is rarely achieved in today's 'suspense' books. But therein is only one of the author's strengths, the storyline is presented in a unique and captivating way, with a seemingly unbelievable twist occurring halfway through instead of at the end. Lastly, don't be misled by my harping on the merits of this book's character interaction. Its greatest asset is the mystery villian, and Alex Cross's attempts at identifying him/her. *Previous book alert* I suggest you read the first three Alex Cross books in this order:Along Came a Spider,Kiss the Girls, and Jack and Jill. (at the very least Along..) before reading Cat and Mouse.

One of the best James Patterson novels around.
Cat & Mouse was the story of Alex Cross, an African-American police officer who was working on a case of two serial killers. One was Gary Soneji--the antagonist from Patterson's previous thriller Along Came a Spider--who was hellbent on taking revenge on Cross, family included. The other was Mr. Smith, a serial killer with split personalities who performed "autopsies" on his victims while they were still alive.

This book has a good balance of scenes between Cross' personal life (his loving grandmother, his huge best friend Samson, his two beautiful children, and their teacher whom he is falling in love with) and business life.

The book is very easy to follow and goes by at a very quick pace. The characters were realistic along with the plot.

The thing that I liked most about the book was the way Patterson told the story. I actually found myself feeling sorry for the bad guys as well as the good, which usually never happens.

I would recommend this book to anyone but be sure not to make the same mistake I made. I started the book late at night before I went to bed at about 11 o'clock. It was so good that I continued to read until three in the morning, which left me sleepy and irritable the next day at work. If you are going to read this book, be sure to start it when you have at least two hours of spare time.

P.S. Please read my other reviews.

Exceptional thriller
Cat and Mouse by James Patterson Warner Books, 1997

A former nemisis of Alex Cross, Gary Soneji, has escaped from jail and is intent on building his reputation as the best (worst?) serial killer in the world and to add Alex Cross to his growing list of victims. Shooting people like fish in a barrel in Washington and New York train stations brings Alex in close contact with this vicious psychopath whose final words seems to indicate that Cross and his family are doomed.

Meanwhile in Europe another serial killer nick named "Mr. Smith" is dispatching victims at and incredible rate and he too would like to end the career of Alex Cross. As Alex becomes involved in this case he must figure out the tantalizing clues left by the killer before he too becomes a victim of the brilliant "Mr. Smith".

A real page turner filled with incredible tension softened somewhat and made human by Alex's growing love for the beautiful Christine Johnson. For thriller readers a real must.