Mark this day on the calendar, folks: It's the first time in a while that I've given a James Patterson book 5 stars. In a race against time, he must defeat Mulch, and find his wife and children - no matter what it takes.

It is then that things ramp up, as Cross prepares to make the ultimate sacrifice to bring his family home; leave himself blowing in the wind and up for trade. Nana Mama, Bree, and his three children have been kidnapped, and he has been given photos showing they were executed.

As the prosecution presents its case, and the nation watches, even those closest to Cross begin to doubt his innocence. They were some major holes in this one, but it was a great follow on to Cross My Heart, and I was well convinced that someone may be back on the market for a bit. Cross follows the leads wherever they take him, tracing the killer's secret history into the back country and eventually down into the bayous of Louisiana. Cross's family – his loving wife Bree, the wise and lively Nana Mama, and his precious children--have been ripped away.

As the diplomat engages in a brilliant series of surprising countermoves, in and out of the courtroom, Alex and his fiancée become hopelessly entangled with the most memorable nemesis Alex Cross has ever faced. Alex comes out of the numb shock from the last book and goes into action to find his family before Mulch kills them one by one.

But someone very high-up is using the FBI, Secret Service, and CIA to keep him off the case and in the dark. Alex's need for vengeance was placed on hold as he faced another huge challenge: raising his children without their mother. When the home of Alex Cross's oldest friend, Ellie Cox, is turned into the worst murder scene Alex has ever seen, the destruction leads him to believe that he's chasing his most dangerous enemy yet. If he can't convince his own family that he didn't pull the trigger with intent to kill, how can he hope to persuade a jury? I don’t know whether it was because James Patterson wrote this one on his own (instead of having co-authors for previous books in the series), but this book was great.

No one in Washington is safe-not children, not politicians, not even the President of the United States. Detective Alex Cross is pulled out of a family celebration and given the awful news that a beloved niece was brutally murdered.With a climax that is both surprising and unexpected, a far cry from the frustration of Cross My Heart (Alex Cross), Hope to Die is one of James Patterson's best novels in a long time. But then circumstances changed – bodies were found – and Cross was forced to play a dangerous game that he felt he had no way of avoiding. To summarize: I love Patterson's machine gun writing style, but find the premise of the Alex Cross series tired and unrealistic, i. Certainly engaging from the beginning, this mystery is full of action from the very beginning to the end.

Behind these three highly skilled killing machines there appears to be an even more threatening controller.

After shots pierce the tranquil nighttime calm of Rock Creek Park, a man is dead: what looks at first like road rage might be something much more sinister.