Zero Tolerance by James Patterson and Duane Swierczynski, narrated by Hilary Swank, Christine Ko, and Melonie Diaz

Story 3 of 5 stars

Heat 0 of 5 stars

Series – n/a

Main characters – Sergeant Jo Barnes, Private Maddie, Lieutenant Luna

Listened to audio narrated by a full cast: Hilary Swank, Christine Ko, and Melonie Diaz. I liked this cast and thought they did a good job with what they were given.

Sergeant Jo Barnes leads an all-female Zero Tolerance investigative team. These three have a reputation for solving complex sex-crimes. Jo, Maddie and Luna take on a case that takes them down a rabbit hole, of privilege and cover-ups, and puts them all in danger.

A short, fast paced read. I was disappointed with the stereotypical characterizations and inaccuracies. There wasn’t a lot of depth, the characters felt flat and the story credibility was low. There were many scenes that didn’t come across as very realistic, it felt like reading a B movie script and I was hoping for something deep, intense and engaging.

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The Big Bad Wolf by James Patterson, narrated by Peter J. Fernandez and Denis O’Hare

Story 3 of 5 stars

Heat 2 of 5 stars

Series – Alex Cross

Main characters – Alex Cross

Listened to audio narrated by Peter Jay Frenandez and Denis O’Hare. They both did a good job, but some of the background sound animations and the computerized chapter call outs were distracting.
Alex Cross is now working for the FBI, he’s working and training at Quantico. But he’s not making new friends with some of his instructors when he keeps getting pulled out of class to work on a new case.

Alex’s new psychopathic master criminal is a mafia bogeyman. He runs an organization that has a selective clientele. They put in orders for their victims and he acquires them on their behalf for a tidy sum.

While Alex and the FBI are trying to save kidnapped victims and find the criminals his ex returns to play havoc at home.

Similar to previous books there are several twists and turns as the Wolf leads them all down many rabbit holes in the investigation and a to be continued ending.

I found too many of the events both with Christine and the investigation either how stupid are they or hard to pass the believability test, which can be frustrating. If you can ignore those things you may like this latest Cross installment.

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Four Blind Mice by James Patterson, narrated by Peter Jay Fernandez and Michael Emerson

Story 4 of 5 stars

Heat 3 of 5 stars

Series – Alex Cross

Main characters – Alex Isiah Cross, Jamilla ‘Jam’ Hughes, John Sampson

Listened to audio narrated by Peter Jay Fernandez and Michael Emerson. I liked Peter Jay Fernandez but wasn’t a fan of Michael Emerson. I thought Emerson did a better job than previously but it was still problematic listening for me.

There are a lot of male characters in this book and I thought both narrators did well giving each male their own sound. This audiobook includes sound effects, some of the sound effects enhanced the story, while others were jarring.

Alex Isiah Cross is about to resign as a DC Detective, and pursue the connection he made with Jamilla in California. Until his best friend and partner John Sampson asks him to take on one more case. Sampson’s and his friend served in Viet Nam together, he has been convicted of murder and is sitting on death row. They have only a few days to prove his innocence before he is scheduled to die of lethal injection.

They start their investigation at Fort Bragg, with some folks being cooperative and others trying to shut them down. The military handles their own and doesn’t like any of their dirty laundry aired. The problem is it seems the military is ignoring evidence and signs that this was a set up, causing Cross and Sampson to keep digging. They discover more than one man has been sent to death row under suspicious circumstance. Their investigation sends them to many military bases as well as a Max security prison. Where Alex crosses paths again with the Mastermind.

Sampson get’s his own love interest this time around and Alex’s girl avoids being a target, which was a relief to see. Nana mama gets a little more spotlight as she has a health scare that rattles Alex but she’s strong enough to still needle him about his work taking him away from home and family.

Three ex-army assassins trained and bred during their time in Viet Nam were hired to frame military men for murders they didn’t commit. They’ve enjoyed their work for the past five years even if they never met their employer. They will complete their mission, with a few side rapes and murders along the way just because they like it.

I’m a bit conflicted by this book, on one hand I liked it more than the previous books but it also had glaring problems, in writing, story line and overall execution.

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Violets are Blue by James Patterson, narrated by Kevin O’Roarke and Daniel Whitner

Story 3 of 5 stars

Heat 2 of 5 stars

Series – Alex Cross

Main characters – Alex Cross, Jamilla ‘Jam’ Hughes

Listened to audio narrated by Kevin O’Roarke and Daniel Whitner. Of all the various narrators I’ve listened to in this series, I liked these to the best.

Detective Alex Cross is pulled into another serial murder case, whose victims are bitten and drained of blood. While being taunted almost daily by the Mastermind.

Keeping with the Cross formula he meets someone during the investigation that he’s attracted to, putting her in danger. While the psycho murderers lead Cross and the FBI on a merry chase across multiple states, Nana mama is less than supportive, constantly needling and criticizing him, while the children love him even while disappointed when he can’t make their events.

I was happy to see the Mastermind arc finally came to a head and got sorted, but there are many niggly items in this series. I’m sick of Nana mama and her lack of support. I also don’t understand how he can jet off with the FBI when he technically works as a DC detective. I know he’s considered a profiler consultant but his investigations have him away from home for extended amounts of time and yet there’s no mention about how this works with his job. I don’t know if I missed it in previous books, but it’s always nagged at me. Then there’s the déja vu feeling that it’s all happened before and is going to be the same story with only characters names and the actual physical events change. I want more depth and less predictability. I’m on the fence about how many more books I’ll try before giving up on this series.

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Roses are Red by James Patterson, narrated by Peter Jay Fernandez

Story 3 of 5 stars

Heat 3 of 5 stars

Series – Alex Cross

Main characters – Alex Cross

Listened to audio narrated by Peter Jay Fernandez. Of all the narrators in this series I enjoyed Fernandez the best. In saying that the audio had some editing issues, with distinct sound changes that seemed to increase the farther in the book I listened.

Alex Cross can’t seem to catch a break. Juggling a new baby, a health scare and reconnecting with Christine who is still struggling to overcome her ordeal of being kidnapped and held hostage for a year. This go around he’s hunting down the Mastermind behind robberies and brutal killings of innocents. It will take him down a path that is as twisted as the Mastermind.

Sick and twisted murders seem to be the only kind of cases Cross handles. Patterson will keep you guessing and take you on more than one twisted turn as we follow Alex and the FBI’s investigation.
He will also leave you with unanswered questions and a to be continued ending.

Patterson plays fast and loose with police procedures that may frustrate readers who revel in the details. They may also get frustrated with how the women were portrayed. It seems even if they start out strong, smart ,and confident at some point he must make them weak.

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