The bank robber handed the phone to Betsy, but she knew the exact words the manager would hear, and who the speaker was.

'Betsy, it's Steve. There's a man here in our house. He has a gun pointed at me. He says that unless the woman in your office leaves the bank with the money by eight-ten exactly, Tommy, Anna, and I will be killed.

It's eight-o-four.'

The phone line suddenly went dead. Her husband's voice was gone.

A series of meticulously planned bank robberies ends in murder, and Alex Cross must pit his wits against the bizarre and sadistic mastermind behind the crimes.

Although torn between dedication to his job and commitment to his family, Cross cannot ignore the case, despite the risks he knows will come with hunting down a killer - and the heartbreaking cost.

James Patterson's new bestseller takes us from deep inside the crazy world of a psychopath's masquerade right to the heart of fiction's most brilliant detective.

Alex Cross is back in an explosive tale where mind games lead to violence, and the slightest mistake will be punished with death.