Roses Are Red

Roses Are Red is a thriller by the American writer James Patterson, published in 2000. It is one of the novels about the detective and psychologist Alex Cross.

A series of crimes shocks Washington: bank robbers enter a building with precise instructions, and when their demands are not met to the letter they kill the bank employees and members of their families. Cross takes the case and concludes that he is not dealing with ordinary robbers, because the need for control and perfection in the crimes is too great, and because the man behind them enjoys being hunted.

He is also in the middle of a personal crisis at home, and the case swallows whatever attention he has left. The killer calls himself the Mastermind and is working towards one last, perfect crime, and the novel follows Cross as he tries to establish who he is dealing with before the plan is carried out. The book is part of a long series, and his family life runs alongside the investigation from the first page to the last.