James Patterson - Kill Alex Cross

The Presidents children have been kidnapped. The water supply for Washington DC has been poisoned. Alex Cross is on both cases.

The only way

Detective Alex Cross is one of the first on the scene of the biggest case hes ever been part of. The Presidents son and daughter have been abducted from their school an impossible crime, but somehow the kidnapper has done it. Alex does everything he can but is shunted to the fringes of the investigation. Someone powerful doesnt want Cross too close.

To stop Alex Cross

A deadly contagion in the DC water supply threatens to cripple the capital, and Alex sees the looming shape of the most devastating attack the United States has ever experienced. He is already working flat-out on the abduction, and this massive assault pushes Cross completely over the edge.

Is to kill him

With each hour that passes, the chance of finding the children alive diminishes. In an emotional private meeting, the First Lady asks Alex to please save her kids. But even the highest security clearance doesnt get him any closer to the kidnapper and Alex makes a desperate decision that goes against everything he believes in.

A full-throttle thriller with unstoppable action, unrestrained emotion, and relentless suspense, Kill Alex Cross is the most gripping Alex Cross novel James Patterson has ever written.

JAMES PATTERSON is one of the best-known and biggest-selling writers of all time. He is the author of some of the most popular series of the past decade the Alex Cross, Womens Murder Club and Detective Michael Bennett novels and he has written many other number one bestsellers including romance novels and stand-alone thrillers. He lives in Florida with his wife and son.

James is passionate about encouraging children to read. Inspired by his own son who was a reluctant reader, he also writes a range of books specifically for young readers. James has formed a partnership with the National Literacy Trust, an independent, UK-based charity that changes lives through literacy. In 2010, he was voted Author of the Year at the Childrens Choice Book Awards in New York.

Also by James Patterson

ALEX CROSS NOVELS

Along Came a Spider

Kiss the Girls

Jack and 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 Crosss Trial

( with Richard DiLallo )

I, Alex Cross

Cross Fire

DETECTIVE MICHAEL BENNETT SERIES

Step on a Crack ( with Michael Ledwidge )

Run for Your Life ( with Michael Ledwidge )

Worst Case ( with Michael Ledwidge )

Tick Tock ( with Michael Ledwidge )

PRIVATE SERIES

Private ( with Maxine Paetro )

Private London ( with Mark Pearson )

STAND-ALONE THRILLERS

Sail ( with Howard Roughan )

Swimsuit ( with Maxine Paetro )

Dont Blink ( with Howard Roughan )

Postcard Killers ( with Liza Marklund )

Toys ( with Neil McMahon )

Now You See Her ( with Michael Ledwidge )

Kill Me If You Can ( with Marshall Karp, to be published November 2011 )

NON-FICTION

Torn Apart ( with Hal and Cory Friedman )

The Murder of King Tut

( with Martin Dugard )

ROMANCE

Sundays at Tiffanys ( with Gabrielle Charbonnet )

The Christmas Wedding ( with Richard DiLallo, to be published November 2011 )

THE WOMENS MURDER CLUB SERIES

1st to Die

2nd Chance ( with Andrew Gross )

3rd Degree ( with Andrew Gross )

4th of July ( with Maxine Paetro )

The 5th Horseman ( with Maxine Paetro )

The 6th Target ( with Maxine Paetro )

7th Heaven ( with Maxine Paetro )

8th Confession ( with Maxine Paetro )

9th Judgement ( with Maxine Paetro )

10th Anniversary ( with Maxine Paetro )

FAMILY OF PAGE-TURNERS

MAXIMUM RIDE SERIES

The Angel Experiment

Schools Out Forever

Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports

The Final Warning

Max

Fang

Angel

DANIEL X SERIES

The Dangerous Days of Daniel X ( with Michael Ledwidge )

Daniel X: Watch the Skies ( with Ned Rust )

Daniel X: Demons and Druids ( with Adam Sadler )

Daniel X: Game Over ( with Ned Rust )

WITCH & WIZARD SERIES

Witch & Wizard ( with Gabrielle Charbonnet )

Witch & Wizard: The Gift ( with Ned Rust )

Witch & Wizard: The Fire ( with Jill Dembowski, to be published October 2011 )

ILLUSTRATED NOVELS

Daniel X: Alien Hunter Graphic Novel ( with Leopoldo Gout )

Maximum Ride: Manga Vol. 1 ( with NaRae Lee )

Maximum Ride: Manga Vol. 2 ( with NaRae Lee )

Maximum Ride: Manga Vol. 3 ( with NaRae Lee )

Maximum Ride: Manga Vol. 4 ( with NaRae Lee )

Middle School ( with Chris Tebbetts and Laura Park )

For more information about James Pattersons novels, visit

www.jamespatterson.co.uk

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For Steve Bowen, Leopoldo Gout, Stuart Manashil,
and Bill Block the Four Musketeers

IT BEGAN WITH President Coyles Children, Ethan and Zoe, both high-profile personalities since they had arrived in Washington, and probably even before that.

Twelve-year-old Ethan Coyle thought he had gotten used to living under the microscope and in the public eye. So Ethan hardly noticed anymore the news cameramen perpetually camped outside the Branaff School gates, and he didnt worry the way he used to if some kid he didnt know tried to snap his picture in the hall, or the gymnasium, or even the boys bathroom.

Sometimes, Ethan even pretended he was invisible. It was kind of babyish, kind of b.s., but who cared. It helped. One of the more personable Secret Service guys had actually suggested it. He told Ethan that Chelsea Clinton used to do the same thing. Who knew if that was true?

But when Ethan saw Ryan Townsend headed his way that morning, he only wished he could disappear.

Ryan Townsend always had it in for him, and that wasnt just Ethans paranoia talking. He had the purplish and yellowing bruises to prove it the kind that a good hard punch or muscle squeeze can leave behind.

Wuzzup, Coyle the Boil? Townsend said, charging up on him in the hall with that look on his face. The Boil havin a bad day already?

Ethan knew better than to answer his tormenter and torturer. He cut a hard left toward the lockers instead but that was his first mistake. Now there was nowhere to go, and he felt a sharp, nauseating jab to the side of his leg. Hed been kicked! Townsend barely even slowed down as he passed. He called these little incidents drive-bys.

The thing Ethan didnt do was yell out, or stumble in pain. That was the deal hed made with himself: dont let anyone see what youre feeling inside.

Instead, he dropped his books and knelt down to pick them back up again. It was a total wuss move, but at least he could take the weight off his leg for a second without letting the whole world know he was Ryan Townsends punching and kicking dummy.

Except this time, someone else did see and it wasnt the Secret Service.

Ethan was stuffing graph paper back into his math folder when he heard a familiar voice.

Hey, Ryan? Wuzzup with you?

He looked up just in time to see his fourteen-year-old sister, Zoe, stepping right into Townsends path.

I saw that, she said. You thought I wouldnt?