Bestseller Patterson's 13th Alex Cross thriller (after 2006's Cross) pits the legendary profiler, now retired from law enforcement and working as a psychiatrist in private practice, against two serial killers. Kyle Craig, Cross's former colleague in the FBI (who was revealed to be the Mastermind, a particularly vicious and resourceful murderer, in 2001's Violets Are Blue), has managed to escape from a Colorado maximum-security prison and is steadily working his way through his list of those he holds responsible for his capture and incarceration. Cross, who heads the list, is drawn back into police work by his love interest, Maryland homicide detective Brianna Stone, who's been assigned to the task force focusing on the D.C. Audience Killer (or DCAK), who stages high-profile and sadistic murders to get the most public attention possible. Even newcomers will find themselves turning the pages to see how everything turns out, but significant plot holes and implausibilities make this a far cry from the similar, but far more suspenseful, two-front war waged by Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs.
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