Kill Alex Cross Is the Most Gripping Alex Cross Novel James Patterson Has Ever Written
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Contents Cover About the Book About the Author Also by James Patterson Title Page Dedication Book One: Unaccounted for Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Book Two: Alphabet Soup Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Book Three: War! Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Chapter 43 Chapter 44 Chapter 45 Chapter 46 Chapter 47 Chapter 48 Chapter 49 Chapter 50 Chapter 51 Chapter 52 Chapter 53 Chapter 54 Chapter 55 Chapter 56 Chapter 57 Chapter 58 Chapter 59 Chapter 60 Chapter 61 Chapter 62 Chapter 63 Chapter 64 Chapter 65 Chapter 66 Chapter 67 Chapter 68 Chapter 69 Chapter 70 Chapter 71 Book Four: Necessary Evils Chapter 72 Chapter 73 Chapter 74 Chapter 75 Chapter 76 Chapter 77 Chapter 78 Chapter 79 Chapter 80 Chapter 81 Chapter 82 Chapter 83 Chapter 84 Chapter 85 Chapter 86 Chapter 87 Chapter 88 Book Five: Rush to the Finish Chapter 89 Chapter 90 Chapter 91 Chapter 92 Chapter 93 Chapter 94 Chapter 95 Chapter 96 Chapter 97 Chapter 98 Chapter 99 Chapter 100 Chapter 101 Chapter 102 Chapter 103 Chapter 104 Chapter 105 Chapter 106 Chapter 107 Chapter 108 Chapter 109 Chapter 110 Chapter 111 Chapter 112 Chapter 113 Chapter 114 Epilogue: Family Ties Chapter 115 Chapter 116 Chapter 117 Copyright About the Book The President’s 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 he’s ever been part of. The President’s 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 doesn’t 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 doesn’t 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. About the Author 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, Women’s 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 Children’s 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 Cross’s 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) Don’t 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 Tiffany’s (with Gabrielle Charbonnet) The Christmas Wedding (with Richard DiLallo, to be published November 2011) THE WOMEN’S 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 School’s 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 Patterson’s novels, visit www.jamespatterson.co.uk Or become a fan on Facebook For Steve Bowen, Leopoldo Gout, Stuart Manashil, and Bill Block — the Four Musketeers Book One UNACCOUNTED FOR IT BEGAN WITH President Coyle’s 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 didn’t worry the way he used to if some kid he didn’t 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 wasn’t just Ethan’s 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. He’d been kicked! Townsend barely even slowed down as he passed. He called these little incidents “drive-bys.” The thing Ethan didn’t do was yell out, or stumble in pain. That was the deal he’d made with himself: don’t let anyone see what you’re 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 Townsend’s punching and kicking dummy. Except this time, someone else did see — and it wasn’t 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 Townsend’s path. “I saw that,” she said. “You thought I wouldn’t?” Townsend cocked his head of blond curls to the side. “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. Why don’t you just mind your own —” Out of nowhere, a heavy yellow textbook came up fast in both of Zoe’s hands. She swung hard, and clocked Townsend with it, right across the middle of his face. The bully’s nose spurted red and he stumbled backward. It was great! That was as far as things progressed before Secret Service got to them. Agent Findlay held Zoe back, and Agent Musgrove wedged himself between Ethan and Townsend. A crowd of sixth, seventh, and eighth graders had already stopped to watch, like this was some new reality TV show — The President’s Kids.