Alex Cross (novel series)

Alex Cross series

The second novel in the series
Along Came a Spider Kiss the Girls Jack & Jill Cat and Mouse Pop Goes the Weasel Roses Are Red Violets Are Blue Four Blind Mice The Big Bad Wolf London Bridges Mary, Mary Cross Double Cross Cross Country Alex Cross's Trial I, Alex Cross Cross Fire Kill Alex Cross Merry Christmas, Alex Cross Alex Cross, Run Cross My Heart Hope to Die Cross Justice
Author	James Patterson
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre	Mystery, Crime Thriller
Publisher	Little, Brown
Media type	Hardcover Paperback audio book

Alex Cross is a crime, mystery, and thriller novel series written by James Patterson. The series focuses on protagonist Alex Cross, a widowed father and detective, as he faces threats to his family and the city of Washington, D.C.. Supporting characters include Cross' children, Damon and Janelle, and his grandmother "Nana Mama". The series is usually narrated in first-person perspective by Alex Cross, and occasionally from the villains' point of view in third-person.

The series is published worldwide, with Little, Brown currently holding publication rights in the United States, in paperback, hardcover, and audiobook editions. The first book in the series, Along Came a Spider, was released in 1993 to positive reviews, spawning a series of over twenty subsequent novels. The series has led to three films, Along Came a Spider, Kiss the Girls, and Alex Cross (a reboot) with a possible sequel, despite very negative reception.

Alex Cross is a widower-detective-father who often fights against threatening villains—and criminals—who wish to kill Cross and others. It mainly focuses on Cross trying to solve very difficult cases while attempting to maintain a relationship with his family. For example in Merry Christmas, Alex Cross, Cross misses out on Christmas Eve and Christmas itself to focus on finding and defeating a terrorist group. One of his regular foes in the earlier books is Kyle Craig, the "Mastermind" who wants to kill Cross, out of revenge for Alex putting him in prison. In some books, Cross sometimes works with—or against—the President/Secret Service in a few books such as Along Came a Spider, Jack & Jill, I, Alex Cross, and Kill Alex Cross. An ongoing theme in the earlier novels is the unsolved murder of his first wife, Maria. Cross later reveals another reason for trying to solve the cases: so he can protect his family from danger. Cross currently lives on Fifth Street in Southeast Washington, D.C., along with grandmother, Nana Mama, children, Damon, Janelle and Alex Jr., and his current—and new—wife, Brianna Stone-Cross.