Somebody is murdering Hollywood's A list.
FBI agent Alex Cross is on vacation when he gets a call from the Director. An actress has been shot outside her home in Beverly Hills. Afterward, an editor for the Los Angeles Times receives an e-mail recounting the murder in shocking detail, signed Mary Smith. Her calling card:
The authorities fear this is only the beginning. Mary Smith is targeting Hollywood stars and power brokers, and she is getting better every time.
This case is like nothing Alex has ever confronted before. Could this be the plan of an obsessed fan or a spurned actor, or is it part of something much more terrifying? And how could a woman be capable of these vicious crimes?
In the eleventh in Patterson's series, FBI Specialist Alex Cross's family vacation at Disneyland is interrupted by two unconnected events: His ex-wife abruptly gains custody of their young son and a shocking series of Hollywood murders comes to light. The use of three readers doesn't add clarity to this puzzle, except that Melissa Leo, the sole female narrator, delivers the murderer's emails with an acidic edge. Peter J. Fernandez and Michael Louis Wells portray Alex Cross and the whirlwind of events that compel him to help the LAPD with the celebrity murder cases. Cross's concern for the well-being of his own family is chillingly juxtaposed with the murderer's messages about raising children. N.M.C. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine
