Cat and Mouse - Softcover

Patterson, James

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0755322622 ISBN 13: 9780755322626

Publisher: Headline Book Publishing Ltd, 2004

Synopsis

In Cat & Mouse, things get too close to home. Two killers, one operating in America-one in Europe-believe Alex Cross is the only worthy opponent in the deadly game each has planned. Villian Gary Soneji is back. He vows his last act on earth will be taking the life of Alex Cross. But first he wants to have some fun. Union Station, Washington, and Penn Station in New York are scenes of chaos as Soneji creates a train ride to hell. With time running out, Cross must predict Soneji's next move: the lives of thousands of innocent commuters hang in the balance.


Meanwhile, a second game of cat and mouse is being played. Thomas Augustine Pierce is referred to by the FBI and Interpol as "St. Augustine" for his uncanny ability to catch killers. He has been chasing his demon, Mr. Smith, since his fiancee was brutally murdered, her heart cut out. Panic spreads through Europe when Mr. Smith strikes in London...then Paris...


But when the Soneji case takes a baffling new twist, Pierce must put the Mr. Smith case on hold to assist in a special investigation. Will Cross-or Pierce-figure out in time who is the cat, and who is the mouse?

About this title

About the Author

James Patterson has had more New York Times bestsellers than any other writer, ever, according to Guinness World Records. Since his first novel won the Edgar Award in 1977 James Patterson's books have sold more than 300 million copies. He is the author of the Alex Cross novels, the most popular detective series of the past twenty-five years, including Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider. He writes full-time and lives in Florida with his family.

From the Back Cover

A murderer named Gary Soneji patiently waits in the basement of Alex Cross's home in Washington. He has come to kill Cross and his family. That's just the beginning of the greatest page-turner in years. Two mind-numbing killers -- one operating up and down the East Coast of America, one in Europe -- believe Cross is their only worthy opponent. They dare to ask the ultimate question: Is Alex Cross about to die? You won't put CAT & MOUSE down until the question is answered.

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.

Keith David and Anthony Heald combine their vocal talents to perform PattersonÕs thriller with powerful characterizations of forensic psychologist Alex Cross and FBI profiler Thomas Pierce. David and HealdÕs depictions bring to life two serial killers, one who is unable to stop his killing spree and one who wants revenge. Along the Eastern Seaboard Gary Soneji carries out his macabre killings with medical precision while in Paris and London the elusive Mr. Smith, one of EuropeÕs legendary serial killers, practices his skills. The narratorsÕ combined dramatic range captures the tension and tight pacing as the chase to identify the killers draws to a climax. Sound effects such as gunshots and victimsÕ screams create an authentic atmosphere. Soft jazz music indicates chapter breaks. G.D.W. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

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.

Edition details

• Publisher: Headline Book Publishing Ltd
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0755322622
• ISBN 13: 9780755322626
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 455