An Alex Cross Omnibus: Cat and Mouse & Pop Goes the Weasel

by James Patterson

Two classic Alex Cross novels in one fantastic package.

In CAT AND MOUSE, Alex Cross is called to Union Station train terminal a man is on the loose, firing at random into the swarming crowds of travellers. Psychopath Gary Soneji seems determined to go down in a blaze of glory, and he wants Alex Cross to be there. Will this be the final showdown?

In POP GOES THE WEASEL, the mounting numbers of bodies threatens to spiral out of control with the murder of yet another Jane Doe. Alex Cross must work alone to find a dangerous and clever killer with the perfect cover, someone beyond suspicion and almost impossible to track down...

480 pages, Paperback

First published March 20, 2008

About the author

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James Patterson is the most popular storyteller of our time and the creator of such unforgettable characters and series as Alex Cross, the Women’s Murder Club, Jane Smith, and Maximum Ride. He has coauthored #1 bestselling novels with Bill Clinton, Dolly Parton, and Michael Crichton, as well as collaborated on #1 bestselling nonfiction, including The Idaho Four, Walk in My Combat Boots, and Filthy Rich. Patterson has told the story of his own life in the #1 bestselling autobiography James Patterson by James Patterson. He is the recipient of an Edgar Award, ten Emmy Awards, the Literarian Award from the National Book Foundation, and the National Humanities Medal.

Reviews

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read every one of these books and what can I say James Patterson is one of my favorite authors. He is brilliant!! They are either a fast read or I go through his books very fast because I can't put them down.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I only read Cat and Mouse. I really liked it. Very suspenseful.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

CAT & MOUSE:
Since the new ALEX CROSS movie just came out in my area, I decided to pick up CAT & MOUSE and make it an Alex Cross week all the way around. On the bright side, the movie was pretty good--much better than most critics and die-hard Patterson fans are giving it credit for. On the other hand, CAT & MOUSE was just awful. The writing was inept ("She looked slightly beyond great."), and the story was a mess. In this novel, Patterson writes in the first-person for three different characters and alternates among them. Then, for some chapters, he switches to a third-person viewpoint, even though we're still following a character he usually writes about in the first-person. Stylistically, that's just ugly and lazy, and I can't think of any other writers who do that. Then there's the fact that this is an Alex Cross novel where Alex Cross is M.I.A. for a third of the story, making the novel feel like one of those TV episodes where the main actor took a vacation and the show's writers were forced to work around it by propping up secondary characters as leads. Then there's the stupid twist at the end--a twist that only works because Patterson doesn't really let us inside the characters' heads, even though he's writing about them in first-person. In my opinion, that's cheating. And worst of all, Alex Cross accomplishes virtually nothing during the course of the story--and certainly not in the book's second half, when he goes after serial killer #2. I had thought CAT & MOUSE would be fun because it features a rematch between Cross and the bad guy from ALONG CAME A SPIDER, the best book I've read in the Cross series. But even that part of the story was lame... I'd recommend just skipping this and seeing the ALEX CROSS movie instead.

POP GOES THE WEASEL:
I will grudgingly admit that I enjoyed POP GOES THE WEASEL, despite my opinion that Patterson wastes a lot of great opportunities here. I thought the RPG angle was cool, but horribly underutilized (all the guy ever does is just throw a friggin' dice! How lame is that?!) Ditto the murder trial angle. Ditto the kidnapping angle. Ditto "The Four Horsemen" angle.
Ditto just about everything.
But, still, it was a definite improvement over the last couple of Alex Cross novels (why, oh why, do I continue on with them?) The second half of the book, especially, did a fairly good job of retaining my interest.

[Daniele · Rating 5 out of 5]

James Patterson never fail to surprise in his thrillers.this is no exception. I've been reading the Alex Cross series in order and sometimes I do think, there's nothing else to be said . But boy I am so wrong. There's always something unimaginable that Patterson will bring to life. Must read.

[jim luce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent easy airport read - no Pulitzer:) but as usual excellent

[Tom]

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