Margins
Alex Cross book cover 1
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Alex Cross
Series · 38
books · 1993-2025

Books in series

Along Came a Spider book cover
#1

Along Came a Spider

1993

What have we got? A missing little girl named Maggie Rose . . . a family of three brutally murdered in the projects of Washington, D.C... the thrill-killing of a beautiful elementary school teacher . . . a psychopathic serial kidnapper/murderer who is so terrifying that the FBI, the Secret Service, and the police cannot outsmart him - even after he's been captured. Gary Soneji wants to commit the crime of the century. Alex Cross is the brilliant homicide detective pitted against him. Jezzie Flanagan is the first female supervisor of the Secret Service. They complete one of the most unusual suspense triangles in any thriller you have ever read. Alex and Jezzie are about to have a forbidden love affair—at the worst possible time for both of them. Because Gary Soneji is playing at the top of his game. The latest of the unspeakable crimes happens in Alex Cross' precinct and it happens under the nose of Jezzie and her men. Alex faces the ultimate test: how do you outmaneuver a brilliant psychopath?
Kiss the Girls book cover
#2

Kiss the Girls

1995

Alex Cross is back. In Los Angeles, a reporter investigating a series of murders is killed. In Chapel Hill, North Carolina, a beautiful medical intern suddenly disappears. And in Washington D.C., Cross needs to find the solution to the most baffling and terrifying murder case ever. Two clever pattern killers are collaborating, cooperating, competing - and they are working coast to coast. Is Alex Cross up to the challenge?
Jack & Jill book cover
#3

Jack & Jill

1996

In the middle of the night, a controversial U.S. Senator is found murdered in bed in his Georgetown pied-a-terre. The police turn up only one clue: a mysterious rhyme signed 'Jack and Jill' promising that this is just the beginning. The two are out to get the rich and famous. They will stop at nothing until their fiendish plan is carried out. Meanwhile, Washington, D. C., homicide detective Alex Cross is called to a murder scene only blocks from his house. Far from the corridors of power where he spends his days. The victim: a beautiful little girl, savagely beaten—and deposited in front of the elementary school Cross' son, Damon, attends. Could there be a connection between the murders? As Cross tries to put the pieces together, the killer - or killers - strike again. And again. No one in Washington is safe - not children, not politicians, not even the President of the United States. Only Cross has the skills and the courage to crack the case, but will he discover the truth in time? A relentless roller coaster of heart-pounding suspense and jolting plot twists, 'Jack and Jill' proves that no one can write a more compelling thriller than James Patterson—the master of the nonstop nightmare.
Cat & Mouse book cover
#4

Cat & Mouse

1997

Alex Cross is back, and so is a raging and suicidal Gary Soneji. Out of prison and dying from the AIDS virus he contracted there, Soneji wants revenge on Cross before he dies. There's more. We are introduced to a new pair of rivals whose paths cross those of Cross and Soneji. Thomas Augustine Pierce has been chasing his demon, Mr. Smith, since the savage murder of his fiancée. Smith is a unique monster, with interactions between him and his victims so insane, so unimaginable, that he is thought of as "not of the earth." Pierce, known in the business as St. Augustine because of his track record for catching killers and his invaluable status to the FBI and Interpol, may even be better than Cross. When things heat up and Alex is in a near-death coma following a strange attack, Pierce goes to Washington to help investigate. But then he is summoned to Paris with a postcard from Smith inviting him to a very special killing. The body count is high, the tension the highest, and the two killers on the loose are watching every move their pursuers make. Who is the cat, and who is the mouse? What and where is the final trap? And who survives?
Pop Goes the Weasel book cover
#5

Pop Goes the Weasel

1999

Detective Alex Cross is back-and he's in love. But his happiness is threatened by a series of chilling murders in Washington, D.C., murders with a pattern so twisted they leave investigators reeling. Cross' pursuit of the killer produces a suspect, a British diplomat named Geoffrey Shafer. But proving he's the murderer becomes a potentially deadly task. As Shafer engages in a brilliant series of surprising counter moves, Alex and his fiancée become hopelessly entangled with the most memorable nemesis Cross has ever faced.
Roses Are Red book cover
#6

Roses Are Red

2000

In this heart-pounding but touchingly romantic thriller, Detective Alex Cross pursues the most complex and brilliant killer he's ever confronted - mysterious criminal who calls himself the Mastermind. In a series of crimes that has stunned Washington, D.C., bank robbers have been laying out precise demands when they enter the building - and then killing the bank employees and their families if those instructions are not followed to the letter.Detective Alex Cross takes on the case, certain that this is no ordinary bank robber at work - the pathological need for control and perfection is too great. Cross is in the midst of a personal crisis at home, but the case becomes all-consuming as he learns that the Mastermind is plotting one huge, last, perfect crime.
Violets Are Blue book cover
#7

Violets Are Blue

2001

Detective Alex Cross must confront his most terrifying nemesis ever-and his own deepest fears-in this electrifying new thriller from the master of suspense, James Patterson. Alex Cross has never believed in vampires. But when two joggers are found slain in a manner that suggests a macabre ritual, he has to reconsider. Someone believes in vampires enough to have committed a series of bizarre murders that appear to be the work of one. Local police are horrified, and even the FBI is baffled.Cross takes on the case and plunges into a netherworld of secret clubs and role-players, a world full of poseurs and playactors-and someone demented enough to have crossed the line from dark ritual to real blood. At the same time, a lethal super-criminal from Cross' past known as the Mastermind is stalking him, taunting him, and threatening everything he holds dear. Cross has never been closer to defeat, or in greater danger. In a shocking conclusion, Alex Cross must survive a deadly confrontation-only to discover at last the awful secret of the Mastermind.
Four Blind Mice book cover
#8

Four Blind Mice

2002

Detective Alex Cross is on his way to resign from the Washington, D.C., Police Force when his partner shows up at his door with a case he can't refuse. One of John Sampson's oldest friends, from their days in Vietnam, has been arrested for murder. Worse yet, he is subject to the iron hand of the United States Army. The evidence against him is strong enough to send him to the gas chamber but Sampson is certain his friend has been framed. Drawing on their years of street training and an almost telepathic mutual trust, Cross and Sampson go deep behind military lines to confront the most terrifying-and deadly-killers they have ever encountered. On his visits home, Alex must confront another, more harrowing mystery: what's the matter with Nana Mama?
The Big Bad Wolf book cover
#9

The Big Bad Wolf

2003

Alex Cross battles the most ruthless and powerful killer he has ever encountered - a predator known only as "the Wolf. "Alex Cross' first case since joining the FBI has his new colleagues stymied. Across the country, men and women are being kidnapped in broad daylight and then disappearing completely. These people are not being taken for ransom, Alex realizes. They are being bought and sold. And it looks as if a shadowy figure called the Wolf - a master criminal who has brought a new reign of terror to organize crime - is behind this business in which ordinary men and women are sold as slaves. Even as he admires the FBI's vast resources, Alex grows impatient with the Bureau's clumsiness and caution when it is time to move. A lone wolf himself, he has to go out on his own in order to track the Wolf and try to rescue some of the victims while they are still alive. As the case boils over, Alex is in hot water at home too. His ex-fiancée, Christine Johnson, comes back into his life - and not for the reasons Alex might have hoped.
London Bridges book cover
#10

London Bridges

2004

TWO OF THE GREATEST VILLAINS JAMES PATTERSON HAS EVER CREATED IN ONE BOOK! Minutes after soldiers evacuate a Nevada town, a bomb completely destroys it. On vacation, FBI agent Alex Cross gets the call: the blast was perpetrated by the Wolf. A supercriminal and Cross' deadliest nemesis, the Wolf threatens to obliterate major cities, including London, Paris, and New York. Then evidence reveals the involvement of a ruthless assassin known as the Weasel. Could these two dark geniuses be working together? Now with just four days to prevent an unimaginable cataclysm, Cross is catapulted into an international chase of astonishing danger —- and toward the explosive truth about the Wolf's identity, a revelation that Cross may not survive.
Mary, Mary book cover
#11

Mary, Mary

2005

FBI Agent Alex Cross is on vacation with his family in Disneyland when he gets a call from the Director. A well-known actress was shot outside her home in Beverly Hills. Shortly afterward, an editor for the Los Angeles Times receives an e-mail describing the murder in vivid details. Alex quickly learns that this is not an isolated incident. The killer, known as Mary Smith, has done this before and plans to kill again.Right from the beginning, this case is like nothing Alex has ever been confronted with before. Is this the plan of an obsessed fan or a spurned actor, or is it part of something much more frightening? Now members of Hollywood's A-list fear they're next on Mary's list, and the case grows by blockbuster proportions as the LAPD and FBI scramble to find a pattern before Mary can send one more chilling update.
Cross book cover
#12

Cross

2006

Alex Cross was a rising star in the Washington, DC, Police Department when an unknown shooter gunned down his wife, Maria, in front of him. The killer was never found, and the case turned cold, filed among the unsolved drive-bys in D.C.'s rough neighborhoods. Years later, still haunted by his wife's death, Cross is making a bold move in his life. Now a free agent from the police and the FBI, he's set up practice as a psychologist once again. His life with Nana Mama, Damon, Jannie, and little Alex is finally getting in order. He even has a chance at a new love. Then Cross' former partner, John Sampson, calls in a favor. He is tracking a serial rapist in Georgetown, one whose brutal modus operandi recalls a case Sampson and Cross worked together years earlier. When the case reveals a connection to Maria's death, Cross latches on for the most urgent and terrifying ride of his life. From the man USA TODAY has called the "master of the genre," CROSS is the high-velocity thriller James Patterson and Alex Cross' fans have waited years to read - and the pinnacle of the bestselling detective series of the past two decades. This novel was originally published under the title Cross. The movie tie-in editions are published under the title Alex Cross. (less)
Double Cross book cover
#13

Double Cross

2007

Just when Alex thought his life was calming down into a routine of patients and therapy sessions, he finds himself back in the game—this time to catch a criminal mastermind like no other. A spate of elaborate murders in Washington D.C. have the whole East Coast on edge. They are like nothing Alex Cross and his new girlfriend, Detective Brianna Stone, have ever seen. With each murder, the case becomes increasingly complex. There's only one thing Alex knows: the killer adores an audience. As victims are made into gruesome spectacles citywide, inducing a media hysteria, it becomes clear to Alex that the man he's after is a genius of terror—and he's after fame. The killer has the whole city by its strings—and he'll stop at nothing to become the most terrifying star that Washington D.C. has ever seen
Cross Country book cover
#14

Cross Country

2008

When the home of Alex Cross' longtime friend Ellie Cox is turned into the worst murder scene Alex has ever seen, he is devastated. The destruction leads him to believe that he's chasing a horrible new breed of killer. As Alex and his girlfriend Brianna Stone begin the hunt for the villain responsible for the killings, they quickly find themselves entangled in the deadly Nigerian underworld of Washington, D.C. What they discover is shocking: a strongly organized gang of teenage thugs headed by a powerful, diabolical man—The Tiger. As the killing spree escalates, Alex and Brianna realize they are not dealing with any ordinary killer, but one who has brought his personal war of vengeance to America's capital. But just when the detectives think they're closing in on the elusive murderer, the Tiger disappears into thin air. Unable to let the killer get away with this narrow escape, Alex makes it his duty to bring the brutal butcher to justice. He knows that he must follow the Tiger. Alone. When Alex arrives in Nigeria, he discovers a world where justice is as foreign as he is. Unprotected and alone in a strange country, bombarded on all sides by the murderous threats of The Tiger, Alex must draw on his fiercest instincts just to survive in a lawless world.
Alex Cross's Trial book cover
#15

Alex Cross's Trial

2009

Separated by timeFrom his grandmother, Alex Cross has heard the story of his great uncle Abraham and his struggles for survival in the era of the Ku Klux Klan. Now, Alex passes the family tale along to his own children in a novel he's written—a novel called Trial. Connected by blood As a lawyer in turn-of-the-century Washington D.C., Ben Corbett represents the toughest cases. Fighting against oppression and racism, he risks his family and his life in the process. When President Roosevelt asks Ben to return to his home town to investigate rumors of the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan there, he cannot refuse. United by bravery When he arrives in Eudora, Mississippi, Ben meets the wise Abraham Cross and his beautiful granddaughter, Moody. Ben enlists their help, and the two Crosses introduce him to the hidden side of the idyllic Southern town. Lynchings have become commonplace and residents of the town's black quarter live in constant fear. Ben aims to break the reign of terror—but the truth of who is really behind it could break his heart. Written in the fearless voice of Detective Alex Cross, Alex Cross' Trial is a gripping story of murder, love, and, above all, bravery.
I, Alex Cross book cover
#16

I, Alex Cross

2009

Can Alex Cross survive his most chilling - and personal - case ever? Pulled out of a family celebration, Detective Alex Cross gets awful news: A beloved relative has been found brutally murdered. Vowing to catch the killer, he quickly learns that she was mixed up in one of Washington, D.C.'s wildest scenes. And she was not this killer's only victim . . .The hunt for the murderer leads Alex and his girlfriend, Detective Brianna Stone, to a place where every fantasy is possible, if you have the credentials to get in. Soon they confront some very important, very protected, and very dangerous people who will do anything to keep their secrets safe. As Alex closes in on the killer, he discovers evidence that points to the unimaginable - a revelation that could rock the entire world.
Cross Fire book cover
#17

Cross Fire

2010

Wedding bells ringDetective Alex Cross and Bree's wedding plans are put on hold when Alex is called to the scene of the perfectly executed assassination of two of Washington D.C.'s most corrupt: a dirty congressmen and an underhanded lobbyist. Next, the elusive gunman begins picking off other crooked politicians, sparking a blaze of theories—is the marksman a hero or a vigilante? A murderer returns The case explodes, and the FBI assigns agent Max Siegel to the investigation. As Alex and Siegel battle over jurisdiction, the murders continue. It becomes clear that they are the work of a professional who has detailed knowledge of his victims' movements—information that only a Washington insider could possess. Caught in a lethal cross fire As Alex contends with the sniper, Siegel, and the wedding, he receives a call from his deadliest adversary, Kyle Craig. The Mastermind is in D.C. and will not relent until he has eliminated Cross and his family for good. With a supercharged blend of action, deception, and suspense, Cross Fire is James Patterson's most visceral and exciting Alex Cross novel ever.
Kill Alex Cross book cover
#18

Kill Alex Cross

2011

Kill Alex Cross is faster, more exciting, and more tightly wound than any Alex Cross thriller James Patterson has ever written! The President's son and daughter are abducted, and Detective Alex Cross is one of the first on the scene. But someone very high up is using the FBI, Secret Service, and CIA to keep him off the case and in the dark. A deadly contagion in the water supply cripples half of the capital, and Cross discovers that someone may be about to unleash the most devastating attack the United States has ever experienced. As his window for solving both crimes narrows, Alex makes a desperate decision that goes against everything he believes – one that may alter the fate of the entire country.
Merry Christmas, Alex Cross book cover
#19

Merry Christmas, Alex Cross

2012

It's Christmas Eve and Detective Alex Cross has been called out to catch someone who's robbing his church's poor box. That mission behind him, Alex returns home to celebrate with Bree, Nana, and his children. The tree decorating is barely underway before his phone rings again—a horrific hostage situation is quickly spiraling out of control. Away from his own family on the most precious of days, Alex calls upon every ounce of his training, creativity, and daring to save another family. Alex risks everything—and he may not make it back alive on this most sacred of family days. Alex Cross is a hero for our time, and never more so than in this story of family, action, and the deepest moral choices. MERRY CHRISTMAS, ALEX CROSS will be a holiday classic for years to come.
Alex Cross, Run book cover
#20

Alex Cross, Run

2013

Three killers are on the rampage in the capital and dead bodies are piling up. Alex Cross is in charge of all three investigations and has never been under more pressure. But with a crisis at home that threatens to tear his family apart, Alex's attention is divided. While Cross tracks the killers, he doesn't notice that someone is tracking him.
Cross My Heart book cover
#21

Cross My Heart

2013

James Patterson raises the stakes to their highest level, ever-when Alex Cross becomes the obsession of a genius of menace set on proving that he is the greatest mind in the history of crime. Detective Alex Cross is a family man at heart—nothing matters more to him than his children, his grandmother, and his wife Bree. His love of his family is his anchor, and gives him the strength to confront evil in his work. One man knows this deeply, and uses Alex's strength as a weapon against him in the most unsettling and unexpected novel of James Patterson's career.When the ones Cross loves are in danger, he will do anything to protect them. If he does anything to protect them, they will die.CROSS MY HEART is the most powerful Alex Cross novel ever, propelled by the ever-ingenious mind of James Patterson, the world's #1 bestselling writer.
Action book cover
#21.5

Action

2014

A 911 call late one evening, a distraught husband, two experienced police officers and a wife and child kidnapped.Alex Cross must race against the clock to track down the missing family, and draw on all of his skills to solve the crime before the inevitable happens.This is an exclusive short story co-written by James Patterson and Brent Gargan for the 2014 James Patterson Heroes + Villains Writing Challenge.
Hope to Die book cover
#22

Hope to Die

2014

Detective Alex Cross is being stalked by a psychotic genius, forced to play the deadliest game of his career. Cross' family – his loving wife Bree, the wise and lively Nana Mama, and his precious children—have been ripped away. Terrified and desperate, Cross must give this mad man what he wants if he has any chance of saving the most important people in his life. The stakes have never been higher: What will Cross sacrifice to save the ones he loves? Widely praised by the greatest crime and thriller writers of our time, Cross My Heart set a jaw-dropping story in motion. Hope to Die propels Alex Cross' greatest challenge to its astonishing finish, proving why Jeffery Deaver says "nobody does it better" than James Patterson.
Cross Justice book cover
#23

Cross Justice

2015

NOTE: The book is Large Print Hard Cover. The toughest cases hit closest to home. Alex Cross left his hometown, and some awful family tragedies, for a better life with Nana Mama in Washington, DC. He hasn't looked back. Now his cousin Stefan has been accused of a horrible, unthinkable murder, and Cross drives south with Bree, Nana Mama, Jannie, and Ali to Starksville, North Carolina, for the first time in thirty-five years. Back home, he discovers a once proud community down on its luck, and local residents who don't welcome him with open arms. As Cross steps into his family home, the horrors of his childhood flood back—and he learns that they're not really over. He brings all his skill to finding out the truth about his cousin's case. But truth is hard to come by in a town where no one feels safe to speak. Chasing his ghosts takes Cross all the way down to the sugarcane fields of Florida, where he gets pulled into a case that has local cops needing his kind of expertise: a string of socialite murders with ever more grisly settings. He's chasing too many loose ends—a brutal killer, the truth about his own past, and justice for his cousin—and any one of the answers might be fatal. In Cross Justice, Alex Cross confronts the deadliest—and most personal—case of his career. It's a propulsive, edge-of-your-seat thrill ride that proves you can go home again—but it just might kill you.
Cross the Line book cover
#24

Cross the Line

2016

Washington DC n’a jamais été aussi dangereux. Des coups de feu ont déchiré le calme de la nuit de Rock Creek Park. Un homme est mort. À peine le commissaire Cross commence-t-il à poser des questions qu’il est appelé de l’autre côté de la ville pour un autre meurtre, qui le touche particulièrement : son ancien patron et bien-aimé mentor de sa femme est retrouvé assassiné. Bree, la femme d’Alex Cross, est engagée par la police pour aider son mari à résoudre cette affaire. Mais cela ne risque-t-il pas de rompre...
Cross Kill book cover
#24.4

Cross Kill

2016

Alex Cross, I'm coming for you—even from the grave if I have to. Along Came a Spider killer Gary Soneji has been dead for over ten years. Alex Cross watched him die. But today, Cross saw him gun down his partner. Is Soneji alive? A ghost? Or something even more sinister? Nothing will prepare you for the wicked truth.
Detective Cross book cover
#24.5

Detective Cross

2017

The suspect is your patient, Dr. Cross. An anonymous caller has promised to set off deadly bombs in Washington, DC. A cruel hoax or the real deal? By the time Alex Cross and his wife, Bree Stone, uncover the chilling truth, it may already be too late.... BookShots LIGHTNING-FAST STORIES BY JAMES PATTERSON Novels you can devour in a few hours Impossible to stop reading All original content from James Patterson
The People vs. Alex Cross book cover
#25

The People vs. Alex Cross

2017

This time it's Alex Cross on trial. Alex Cross is on the wrong side of the law. Serving a suspension from the force while he awaits trial for murder, Cross has been branded as a trigger-happy cop, another bad apple walking the streets with a gun, an accusation that Cross will do anything to refute. To make himself feel useful again, Cross opens a counseling office in the basement of his home. When his former partner Sampson shows up needing his help, Cross jumps at the chance, even if it may end up costing him what's left of his career. When a string of young, blonde women go missing, the investigation leads Cross and Sampson to the most depraved, darkest corners of the internet. Struggling to prove his own innocence and uncover the truth lurking online, Cross must risk everything to save his most at-risk patient of all...himself.
Target book cover
#26

Target

Alex Cross

2018

TARGET: HEAD OF STATE A leader has fallen, and the procession route from Capitol Hill to the White House is lined with hundreds of thousands of mourners. None feel the loss of a President more keenly than Alex Cross, who has devoted his life to the public good. TARGET: UNITED STATES CABINET A sniper’s bullet strikes a target in the heart of DC. Alex Cross’s wife, Bree Stone, newly elevated chief of DC detectives, faces an ultimatum: solve the case, or lose the position for which she’s worked her entire career. The Secret Service and the FBI deploy as well in the race to find the shooter. Alex is tasked by the new President to take a personal role with the FBI, leading an investigation unprecedented in scale and scope. TARGET: ALEX CROSS Alex has a horrible premonition: is the sniper’s strike only the beginning of a larger attack on the nation? It isn’t long before his fears explode into life, and the nation plunges into a full-blown Constitutional crisis. His ingenuity, his training, and his capacity for battle are tested beyond limits in the most far-reaching and urgently consequential case of his life. As the rule of law is shattered by chaos, and Alex fights to isolate a suspect, Alex’s loyalty may be the biggest danger of all.
Criss Cross book cover
#27

Criss Cross

2019

A killer with all the skills of a master detective has made Alex Cross the subject of his deranged "investigation." In a Virginia penitentiary, Alex Cross and his partner, John Sampson, witness the execution of a killer they helped convict. Hours later, they are called to the scene of a copycat crime. A note signed "M" rests on the corpse. "You messed up big time, Dr. Cross." Was an innocent man just put to death? Alex soon realizes he may have much to answer for, as "M" lures the detective out of the capital to the sites of multiple homicides, all marked with distressingly familiar details—details that conjure up decades-old cases. Details that conjure up Cross family secrets. Details that make clear that M is after a prize so dear that—were the killer to attain it—Alex's heart would no longer have reason to beat.
Deadly Cross book cover
#28

Deadly Cross

2020

A scandalous double homicide in the nation's capital opens the psychological case files on . . . Detective Alex Cross. Until Kay Willingham's shocking murder inside a luxury limousine, the Georgetown socialite, philanthropist, and ex-wife of the sitting vice-president led a public life. Yet few—including her onetime psychologist—had any inkling of Kay's troubled past in the Deep South. Murdered alongside her is Randall Christopher, a respected educator whose political ambitions may have endangered both their lives. While John Sampson of DC Metro Police tracks Randall's final movements, Alex Cross and FBI Special Agent Ned Mahoney travel to Alabama to investigate Kay's early years. They discover that although Kay had many enemies, all of them needed her alive. Alex is left without a viable suspect, and facing a desperate choice between breaking a trust and losing his way—as a detective, and as the protector of his family.
Fear No Evil book cover
#29

Fear No Evil

2021

Alex Cross enters the final showdown with the relentless killer who has stalked him and his family for years.​ Dr. Alex Cross and Detective John Sampson venture into the rugged Montana wilderness—where they will be the prey. They’re not on the job, but on a personal mission. Until they’re attacked by two rival teams of assassins, controlled by the same mastermind who has stalked Alex and his family for years. Darkness falls. The river churns into rapids. Shots ring out through the forest. No backup. No way out. Fear no evil.
Triple Cross book cover
#30

Triple Cross

2022

Detective Alex Cross hunts down a serial killer who’s murdering entire families—and who will next be coming for Cross. A methodical killer is targeting multigenerational families in and around Washington, DC—striking under cover of darkness, triggering no alarms, leaving no physical evidence of any kind. Alex isn’t the only one investigating. Also on the case is a charismatic true-crime author who sees patterns the detectives miss. The writer calls “The Family Man” a perfect crime story. Alex knows there is no perfect crime—the investigation should never become the story. Unless the ending falls somewhere between fact and fiction.
Cross Down book cover
#31

Cross Down

2023

Only John Sampson can save his partner, Alex Cross . . . and America. The brilliant crime-solving duo of Washington DC’s Metro PD and the FBI has a proven operating procedure: Detective Alex Cross makes his own rules. Detective John Sampson enforces them. Then a series of military-style attacks erupts. No sooner do Cross and Sampson join the investigation than Alex is brutally sidelined. The threat to Sampson’s best friend, his partner, his brother, sends him reeling. The patterns are too random, Alex has told him. Don’t trust anyone. Among Sampson’s Army network, some soldiers are called to secret duty assignments. Others are disappearing. As a shadow force advances on the nation’s capital, Sampson alone must protect the Cross family, his own young daughter, and every American including the president. The detective has a new enemy. Time.
Alex Cross Must Die book cover
#32

Alex Cross Must Die

A Thriller

2023

Detectives Cross and Sampson are tracking a serial killer who's fatally ambushing young men in the “Dead Hours” murders. They don't hear the machine gun fire. At first. “Drop whatever you're doing, Dr. Cross, and head to Reagan Airport,” DC Metro Police dispatch says. “A plane just crashed and exploded on the runway. The chief and the FBI want you and John Sampson there pronto.” The weapon that took down the plane is a remote-controlled Vietnam-War-era machine gun. The list of those who possess the training and expertise to operate the stolen, .50-caliber weapon is short. And time runs even shorter. As Cross and Sampson race to prevent another mass murder, their fearsomely armed opponent once again looks skyward.
The House of Cross book cover
#33

The House of Cross

2024

The thirty-second instalment in James Patterson's globally bestselling Alex Cross series. It’s time to put the guns down, Detective Cross. Even if you knew the way out of this place, we would catch you. A serial killer is taking out America’s finest legal minds, and Alex Cross is called to investigate their brutal murders. But during a dangerous mission to track down the killer, his wife, Bree, and best friend, John Sampson, go missing. To save the people he loves most, Cross has only three goals: Number one: Find Bree and John. Number two: Escape. Number three: Survive. If he fails, there will be no one left in the House of Cross.
Return of the Spider book cover
#34

Return of the Spider

2025

Alex Cross is back in the thirty-third instalment of James Patterson's bestselling series... but so is an old enemy he thought he'd laid to rest...
Triple Homicide book cover
#38

Triple Homicide

From the case files of Alex Cross, Michael Bennett, and the Women's Murder Club

2018

Alex Cross faces a D. C. bomb threat, the Women's Murder Club investigates a millionaire's death, and Michael Bennett hunts down a Thanksgiving Parade attacker in this collection of detective novels. Detective An Alex Cross Story : An anonymous caller has promised to set off deadly bombs in Washington, DC. A cruel hoax or the real deal? By the time Alex Cross and his wife Bree uncover the chilling truth, it may already be too late . . . The Medical A Women's Murder Club Story (with Maxine Paetro) : A woman checks into a hotel room and entertains a man who is not her husband. A shooter blows away the lover and wounds the millionairess, leaving her for dead. Is it the perfect case for the Women's Murder Club—or just the most twisted? A Michael Bennett Story (with James O. Born) : Someone attacked the Thanksgiving Day Parade right in front of Michael Bennett and his family. The news called it "holiday terror" — Michael Bennett calls it personal. The hunt is on . . .

Authors

James Patterson
James Patterson
Author · 501 books

Official US Site Official UK Site JIMMY Patterson Books ReadKiddoRead James Patterson is the world’s bestselling author. Among his creations are Alex Cross, the Women’s Murder Club, Michael Bennett, and Maximum Ride. His #1 bestselling nonfiction includes Walk in My Combat Boots, Filthy Rich, and his autobiography, James Patterson by James Patterson. He has collaborated on novels with Bill Clinton and Dolly Parton and has won an Edgar Award, nine Emmy Awards, and the National Humanities Medal.

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Alex Cross