Kiss the Girls by James Patterson

(Photo taken from Amazon)

Title: Kiss the Girls
Author: James Patterson
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Language: English
ISBN - 10: 0446601241
ISBN - 13: 978-0446601245
Rating:







A dedicated policeman and psychologist. A killer in the West coast who calls himself, "Gentleman Caller," and a killer in the East coast who calls himself, "Casanova." Several females murdered and missing. Gruesome killings and tortures in graphic detail. Ah, classic James Patterson indeed.

Every time I read books from the likes of James Patterson, Thomas Harris, and John Sanford, I can't help thinking: "They all look like sweet, cute, huggable grandpas, and they write really scary stuff like this. Are they for real?" Of course they are. And they totally rock!

This story is the second installment in the Alex Cross series. This time, Alex hunts down two killers whom he suspects to be working together with each other, what he calls "twinning". Alex's niece is one of those missing women that one of the killers may have taken, and he comes rushing to help solve the case and on the way encounters familiar friends and new characters that gives this novel its thrilling, snappy appeal.

I like the novel's fast pace and economic dialogue. The flow of the story is precise, creative, and suspense-filled, that you can't help but hurry to the next chapter. However, for maximum appreciation, you must savor every detail in this story and let it come to you - just be sure to lock all your doors and windows, and keep the lights in your room open. I did all those things in the middle of reading this. I was totally hooked but paranoid! But, although the story is very action-packed, I just can't resist thinking that it's very predictable/unpredictable in that, if you are like me who reads and thinks about this book at the same time, you can already figure out some of the twists but you still get this strange feeling that when you get to a predicted twist, the author turns the tables on you and surprises you with stuff you haven't thought of. It's like he's telling you, "Gotcha there, didn't I?"

But as much as I would love to rave about this book, there is one quirk though, that I didn't like much: the romance between Alex Cross and an escaped victim. I mean, come on, they've only known each other what, a few weeks? And then there's the trauma the victim went through. Was it really that easy to get over and decide that you're in love again? No matter how strong a person is, stress will still be stress. It's not just something you take for granted - you have to deal with it first before you can get on with your life. And I'm talking about really heavy stress here.

Overall, I really liked this book and it certainly got me curious about the other ones on the series. Other readers have their vampires and what-not. I have psychotic killers and gruesome murders. Bring it!