Violets Are Blue
2001
- fiction
- police
- vampires
- role playing
- alex cross (fictitious character)
- police psychologists
- african american police
- detective and mystery stories
- suspense fiction
- serial murders
The story
D.C. Detective Alex Cross has seen a lot of crime scenes. But even he is appalled by the gruesome murders of two joggers in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park - killings that look more like the work of savage beasts than humans. Local police are horrified and even the FBI is baffled. Then, as Cross is called in to take on the case, the carnage takes off, leaving a trail of bodies across America and sweeping him to Savannah, Las Vegas, New Orleans, Los Angeles . . as his nemesis, the merciless criminal known as the Mastermind, stalks him, taunts him, and once again, threatens everything he holds dear...
What it’s like
Clipped, fast-cut chapters and a restless, travelling momentum, the feel of a thriller read in one long sitting on a late train or in a hotel room. The mood is urgent and grim, with dread that builds from a few horrifying discoveries into a sense that the danger is spreading across the map. Crime-scene details are stark and unsentimental, and the violence is graphic and frequent: savage killings, bodies left in public places, and a villain who taunts the investigator, so it lands hard rather than lightly. The sensory world is mostly urban and institutional, with police offices, morgues, and hotel rooms in a series of cities, rather than lush description. Tone is tense and relentless, with little quiet space between set pieces, and the investigator's personal life is kept in view as the stakes sharpen. Best suited to readers who want a propulsive serial-killer procedural and don't mind brutality on the page. Not a fit for anyone seeking something gentle or low-intensity.
More books like Violets Are Blue
Closest in mood, pacing and theme. Tell us why you loved Violets Are Blueand we’ll explain which ones fit you.
