Soneji is out. Alex Cross has one shot to end the game.
Who drives the story
D.C. detective and psychologist, father of Jannie and Damon, grandson of Nana Mama. He wants his family safe and his past buried; Soneji's escape drags both into the open, and he has to end a duel he never wanted to resume.
Life-sentence killer of two children, escaped from a Colorado maximum-security prison after murdering two guards. He wants a rematch with Cross on his own terms — a game of cat and mouse with an audience of one.
FBI agent who briefs Cross on the escape and works the manhunt alongside him. He's the Bureau's face on a case that is anything but routine.
Regina, Cross's grandmother and the spine of the Fifth Street household. She holds the family together while its protector is out hunting a killer who knows where they live.
Cross's two children, the reason he makes pancakes at dawn and takes chances at midnight. Their safety is the stake beneath every move in the chase.
How they are connected
detective and psychologist, father of Jannie and Damon, grandson of Nana Mama.
detective and psychologist, father of Jannie and Damon, grandson of Nana Mama.
He wants his family safe and his past buried; Soneji's escape drags both into the open, and he has to end a duel he never wanted to resume.
FBI agent who briefs Cross on the escape and works the manhunt alongside him.
Go deeper
The hunter who refuses to be prey · Family as both anchor and target · Murder as performance · The past doesn't stay buried
Themes explainedThe full story act by act, the ending explained and a quick quiz.
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