murder of his niece Caroline, Alex Cross discovers an unimaginable secret that could rock the entire world.
CROSS FIRE
Alex Cross is planning his wedding to Bree, but his nemesis returns to exact revenge.
KILL ALEX CROSS
The President’s children have been kidnapped, and DC is hit by a terrorist attack. Cross must make a desperate decision that goes against everything he believes in.
MERRY CHRISTMAS, ALEX CROSS
Robbery, hostages, terrorism – will Alex Cross make it home in time for Christmas … alive?
ALEX CROSS, RUN
With his personal life in turmoil, Alex Cross can’t afford to let his guard down. Especially with three blood-thirsty killers on the rampage.
CROSS MY HEART
When a dangerous enemy targets Cross and his family, Alex finds himself playing a whole new game of life and death.
HOPE TO DIE
Cross’s family are missing, presumed dead. But Alex Cross will not give up hope. In a race against time, he must find his wife, children and grandmother – no matter what it takes.
CROSS JUSTICE
Returning to his North Carolina hometown for the first time in over three decades, Cross unearths a family secret that forces him to question everything he’s ever known.
CROSS THE LINE
Cross steps in to investigate a wave of murders erupting across Washington, DC. The victims have one thing in common – they are all criminals.
THE PEOPLE VS. ALEX CROSS
Charged with gunning down followers of his nemesis Gary Soneji in cold blood, Cross must fight for his freedom in the trial of the century.
TARGET: ALEX CROSS
Cross is called on to lead the FBI investigation to find America’s most wanted criminal. But what follows will plunge the country into chaos, and draw Cross into the most important case of his life.
A list of more titles by James Patterson appears at the back of this book
Are you a fan of James Patterson’s bestselling Alex Cross series?
If so, you’ll love …
DETECTIVE MICHAEL BENNETT
A native of New York City, Michael Bennett is the NYPD’s top detective. An expert in hostage negotiation, terrorism, homicide and organised crime, he shares Alex Cross’s particular talent for solving the cases that no one else can.
Relentless in his search for the truth and unorthodox in his methods, Bennett will stop at nothing to get the job done – even if it means breaking the rules. Just like Alex Cross, Bennett strives to protect his city and the family that he loves. With ten adopted children, family is at the core of everything Bennett does.
Discover the series with an extract from Blindside
Available in hardback from January 2020
CHAPTER 1
I DID EVERYTHING I could to distract Lucille Evans from noticing the bloody footprint. A responding patrol officer had tracked the blood into the hallway. One look at the scene inside and the veteran needed to run into the street. I didn’t blame him one bit.
The forensics people were in the small, two-bedroom apartment on the third floor of this building on 146th Street near Willis Avenue in the Bronx. The scene was so horrendous that the local detectives had called me to help even though it wasn’t technically considered part of Manhattan North Homicide’s usual territory. Two of the local detectives had lost it. It happens. It’s happened to me over the years. I lost it once at the scene of a murdered girl. Her stepfather had bashed her head in for crying because she was hungry. She reminded me of my own Shawna, staring up through blood splatters. When I heard her stepfather in the other room, talking with detectives, I snapped. It almost felt like another being possessed me. I burst into the room, ready to kill. Only the fact that my partner at the time, Gail Nodding, was as tough as nails and shoved me back out the door had kept me from killing the creep.
Now I considered this bloody scene. Who wouldn’t be affected by the sight of two bodies with bullet wounds in their heads? Large caliber wounds. Not the usual .38s or 9mms used in the city. The bodies frozen in time. A mother trying to shield her little girl. I wanted to bolt home and hug my own children. But I had work to do.
I had my hands full with the sixty-five-year-old woman who merely wanted to say good-bye to her daughter and granddaughter.
Mrs. Evans tried to push past me to open the simple wooden door with the number 9 hanging upside down. The threadbare industrial carpet didn’t give my feet much traction. My semi-dress Skechers were more for walking comfort than for wrestling.
Mrs. Evans said, “Let me pass,