JAMES PATTERSON is not only one of the world's most popular authors, but also one of its most prolific. This is his fourth novel in just over a year. This sequel to Roses Are Red sees the return of Patterson's greatest literary creation, Detective Alex Cross.

The thriller starts where Roses ended, in the bedroom of Cross's former colleague, who has been brutally slain by The Mastermind.

The action heads to San Fransisco where two joggers are found dead - bitten and hung by their feet to drain the blood.

There are further murders in California and then on the East Coast, and Cross, together with the FBI's Craig Kyle, is baffled. Is it the work of modern-day vampires or a bizarre cult? Cross also has to be on guard against The Mastermind, who threatens to kill his friends and family.

This is vintage Patterson: taut, tense, fast-paced and engrossing.

Updated: 10:17 Wednesday, January 09, 2002