Roses Are Red, James Patterson"s sixth Alex Cross thriller, openswith the District of Columbia detective attempting to mend his nearly unraveledfamily. The year-long kidnapping of one"s intended (1999"s Pop Goes the Weasel) will dothat to a relationship. Christine, the kidnappee, is amenable with onereasonable condition: that her family"s horizon remain uncluttered by homicidalmaniacs. How unfortunate, then, that the joyous christening of their newborn sonis rudely interrupted by the FBI bearing news of several heinous murdersrequiring the attention of detective (and doctor of psychology) Cross."Three-year-old boy, the father, a nanny," Kyle said one more timebefore he left the party. He was about to go through the door in the sun porchwhen he turned to me and said, "You"re the right person for this. They murdereda family, Alex."As soon as Kyle was gone, I went looking for Christine. My heart sank. She hadtaken Alex and left without saying good-bye, without a single word.Which leaves Cross free to hunt the Mastermind, the barbarous brains behind awidening series of bank robberies in which employees or their family members areheld hostage and, when instructions aren"t followed to the finest iota,slaughtered. Given the cases" glaring and unfathomable inhumanity, Cross"s long- time DCPD partner (the wonderful giant, John Sampson) gives way to the warm,attractive, and fiercely intelligent FBI Agent Betsey Cavalierre.The longer and harder Cross and Cavalierre remain on his trail, the bolder andmore brutal--and shiveringly close to home--the Mastermind"s strikes become.And, thanks mostly to lightning-short paragraphs and a point of view thatrappels from the first-person Cross to the third-person Mastermind, the taleprogresses at hot-trot speed to a bona fide doozy of a denouement. It"ll be overbefore you know it, so sit back, hold your breath, and enjoy the show. And staytuned for the next one. --Michael Hudson