Novel: Mary Mary (Alex Cross Series) by James Patterson

About Alex Cross

Alex Cross is novelist James Patterson's most renowned character. He is a homicide detective who lives in Washington, D.C. with his grandmother and two children, Damon and Janelle. Cross received a doctorate in psychology from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, but he decided to become a police officer after becoming disillusioned with the politics of the medical community.

Patterson portrays Dr. Cross as a lonely individual, yet he is a model father and is quite empathetic in dealing with the public. Despite the fact that he is well educated and makes a decent living, he chooses to continue residing in the slums of D.C. He is very much involved in the community, most notably volunteering at St. Anthony's Parish in his D.C. neighborhood.

Author: James Patterson

James B. Patterson (born March 22, 1947) is an award-winning American author. His main character in many of his novels is Alex Cross, a forensic psychologist. Morgan Freeman has played Cross in two movies adapted from Patterson's books, Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider. (Official James Patterson website)

Mary Mary

Alex cross is enjoying vacations with family at Disneyland when he is called in by FBI. His new assignment is to work with LAPD on a high profile murder case. An actress Antonia Schifman has been killed. An L.A. Times columnist has received a series of e-mails from a woman named Mary Smith, taking responsibility for the killing of the actress, her chauffeur, and a well-known female movie producer. Cross studies the e-mails, which make reference to Mary's ordinary appearance and her fixation on the perfect families, particularly the children, of both women. When another prominent woman is killed, Cross gets involved into the case full time, jeopardizing the outcome of the custody battle he's involved in over his youngest son. As Cross studies the e-mails and patterns of the murderer, he realizes that he can't be sure of anything, even the gender of Mary Smith. This latest thriller by Patterson lead to a truly unexpected and electrifying climax.

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