Along Came a Spider: (Alex Cross 1)

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Discover the riveting thriller series featuring Detective Alex Cross written by bestselling author James Patterson. Set in Cross' gritty beat in the heart of Washington D.C., the series follows the Metropolitan Police Department detective as he hunts criminals, solves grisly murders and strives to protect his family. Alex works closely with the hostage-rescue team, which includes Secret Service supervisor Jezzie Flanagan. Within days, the body of one of the child victims, Michael Goldberg, is found by a river in Maryland. Not long afterward, the hostage-rescue team receives a ransom demand from the kidnapper. The team rushes to Florida to investigate the business where the demand originated from. While there, they receive another demand and decide to follow the instructions in the hopes of saving the other child victim, Maggie Rose Dunne. Casanova: A serial killer from North Carolina who "collects" beautiful, exceptional young women whom he holds in an underground "harem", raping and eventually murdering them. He bonded with The Gentleman Caller years ago and they murdered women together for some time. Discover the classic thriller that launched the #1 detective series of the past twenty-five years, now one of PBS's "100 Great American Reads" Cross looks for clues and deduces Casanova's true identity. Cross keeps the information from Agent Craig and decides to conduct his own stakeout. He follows Detective Sikes, positive that he is Casanova, looking for a new woman to kidnap. Cross snoops outside a house which Sikes has entered. Sikes sees him, and they fight. The woman turns out to be Sikes' mistress, an affair the FBI knew about.

Fox, Jesse (18 October 2012). "An Alex Cross Sequel Is Already in the Works". Vulture . Retrieved October 18, 2012. The psychological perspective is what grabbed me into this book. It does a minor in depth diagnosis of the different criminals that are presented. It’s almost like the show “Criminal Minds” but its Dr. Cross doing the digging. Ebert, Roger (April 6, 2001). "Along Came A Spider". Chicago Sun-Times. Chicago, Illinois: Sun-Times Media Group . Retrieved October 10, 2020– via RogerEbert.com.The trial lasts eleven months. Cross hypnotizes Soneji several times, learning he has a split personality; Gary Murphy, his everyday persona, is a gentle family man, while Gary Soneji is a vicious sociopath. Despite the defense's best effort at an insanity plea, Soneji is imprisoned. Dr. Kate McTiernan: A young physician who is captured by Casanova as part of his "harem", but manages to escape from his underground hiding place thanks to her martial arts skills. After recovering physically, she joins Cross on the hunt for her abductor, and starts to develop a close relationship with him. In 2001, the novel was adapted into a film starring Morgan Freeman as Alex Cross, Monica Potter as Jezzie Flannigan, and Michael Wincott as Soneji. In 1997, the novel was adapted into a film starring Morgan Freeman as Alex Cross and Ashley Judd as Kate McTiernan. O'Connor, Clint (18 October 2012). " 'Alex Cross': Tyler Perry becomes James Patterson's detective in new thriller: Review". The Plain Dealer . Retrieved December 17, 2012. powerful screen presence

Alex Cross and Jezzie Flanagan are about to have a forbidden love affair-at the worst possible time for both of them. Because Gary Soneji, who wants to commit the "crime of the century," is playing at the top of his game. Soneji has outsmarted the FBI, the Secret Service, and the police. Who will be his next victim? At an old farmhouse Soneji buries the children alive in special coffins he made for them. Soneji watches the TV coverage of the kidnapping and is angered by FBI agent Roger Graham's contemptuous comments about him. Soneji later impersonates a reporter and stabs Graham. Alex connects Gary Soneji’s story of being watched to the Secret Service agents assigned to Michael Goldberg and goes to the FBI with his theory. The FBI confirms Alex’s suspicions and believes that Jezzie Flanagan, the Secret Service supervisor, was involved due to her sexual relationship with one of the agents. Alex is devastated by the news but agrees to help get the proof needed to arrest those involved

Forget about solving all these crimes; the signal triumph here is (spoiler) the heroine’s survival. Brianna Stone/Cross, who is Cross' girlfriend/now wife, and was also a detective. She first appeared in Double Cross, having started a relationship with Alex and falling in love with him. Bree is described as a tough Bureau detective, and is put on the case for DCAK, which she works with Alex and Sampson. At the beginning and near the end of the novel, she professes her love for Alex. In Cross Country, Bree and Alex's relationship continues to grow stronger. She helps him investigate The Tiger, especially when his family is kidnapped by the killer also. In I, Alex Cross, Bree is shown living with Alex at the Cross home. She continues to stay at the Cross house to take care of Nana Mama, after Nana nearly dies. In the end of the book, Alex proposes to her and she happily accepts. In Cross Fire, both Bree and Alex look forward to their wedding, while at the same time dealing with Kyle Craig. They get married after facing off against Kyle Craig "the Mastermind" one final time. At the end of the novel, Kyle is killed and Bree and Alex are finally enjoying a life of peace together. In Kill Alex Cross she discovers a homeless girl trying to steal from the Cross house, and later agrees to adopt her due to Nanna's wishes. In Merry Christmas, Alex Cross she seems distraught and annoyed that Alex must be away from his family on Christmas. However, at the end of the novel, Alex and her share a dance while on a double date with Sampson and Billie, and they share a kiss. In Alex Cross, Run she is distraught and wants vengeance when Ava, a young girl she and Nana adopted, is burned alive. She and Sampson assist Alex in capturing Ava's murderer and killing him. At the end of the novel, she and Alex continue to recover from the death of Ava and their love for each other remains strong. Alex Cross, the main character of the series. He has a Ph.D. in Psychology from Johns Hopkins University and has worked for both the Washington DC Police Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation. His wife was murdered by an assassin, which leaves Cross a widower with two children and his grandmother, Nana Mama. In the first few books he is alone until meets and falls in love with a woman named Christine, with whom he has a third child — a boy — named Alex Jr or Ali. During the books Cross is hunted by a criminal/threat in Washington, D.C., where he lives, which causes Christine to leave him out of fear. He is a detective who tries to be as close to his family as can be. After Christine left him, Alex later started dating again, but some of the women have either died or left him over the course of the novels. By the novel Cross, Alex discovers that an assassin named Jimmy Hats Galati, murdered his wife and was killed by his best friend, John Sampson, who didn't want Alex to go down the road of revenge. Now having solved the murder of his wife, Alex finds the will to move on with his life, finding peace for the very first time. In the newest books, he begins a relationship with Bree Stone, whom he eventually marries. Since Roses Are Red up to Cross Fire, The Mastermind, Kyle Craig, has been his primary enemy. It is unknown exactly why Craig wants to kill Alex however. Craig is to have supposedly died in Cross Fire. Cross allows the adopted girl, Ava (after Nana Mama finds her in Kill Alex Cross), to live with his family. Alex marries Bree in Cross Fire and is finally at peace with her. He has had three major love interests throughout the series, Maria Cross (his deceased wife), Christine Johnson (his ex-girlfriend, whom he'd been engaged to), and Bree (his current wife). He has been friends with Sampson since he was 10, meaning they've been friends since he first arrived in Washington, D.C. In Alex Cross, Run, Alex faces several cases and his life becomes severely complicated. When Ava is murdered, he finds her killer and avenges her death along with Bree. However, he still faces several issues: problems with his new wife, Bree; what he will do after Ava's death and whether he will continue being a detective; if he may have children with Bree; and if he will ever stop having to face the recurring problem in his life - endangering himself and his family all the time. Finally, his shrink says she will help him deal with his life for as long as it takes. The earlier novels were initially named after children's rhymes, but from 2006 the lead character's name started appearing in the titles. [1] Geoffrey Shafer/ The Weasel, the antagonist of Pop Goes the Weasel and secondary antagonist in London Bridges. Shafer is responsible for kidnapping Christine Johnson, Alex's fiancée at the time, and killing his own wife, Lucy, in Pop Goes the Weasel. He is not seen until three or four books later ( London Bridges) where he is forced to work with the Wolf, a serial killer and powerful organized crime boss. He is then assigned to keep Alex Cross busy and later decides to hunt down Alex in London, only to be fatally wounded and killed by Cross when he confronts him. In the novel Pop Goes The Weasel, Geoffrey competes with a small group of other people, known as The Horsemen to kill people, or "live their fantasies". He is also known to have started killing many years before he was even introduced and has gone over 100 murders. Shafer is described as one of Alex's worst enemies.