When Los Angeles Times editor Arnold Griner receives
the first horrifying letter from "Mary Smith" detailing the
grisly shooting and slashing of a prominent Hollywood
actress and mother, former FBI agent Alex Cross is called
away from his first family vacation in years to profile the
serial murderer before she (or he) chooses the next victims.
In the middle of the investigation, Cross travels to
Seattle from Washington, D.C., for the custody hearing of
his youngest son, Alex Jr. His ex-wife's lawyer is more
than content to drag his name and parenting skills through
the mud. Will he get custody of little Ali? Will he even be
able to get visitation from Christine? Will he find a
connection between the murders of the Hollywood mothers?
Why were their faces so brutally slashed? What's the
meaning of the children's stickers at the crime scenes,
emblazoned with A, A and B?
Fans of the 10 preceding Alex Cross novels will find this
one riveting. Patterson delivers a series of surprises that
are definitely unexpected. There's a bit of thriller,
romance, horror and drama in this one. If you only read one
book this month, make it MARY, MARY. You won't be
disappointed.
FBI agent Alex Cross is on vacation with his family at
Disneyland when he gets a call from the Director. A well-
known actress was shot outside her home in Beverly Hills.
Shortly afterward, an editor for the Los Angeles Times
receives an e-mail describing the murder in vivid detail.
Alex quickly learns that this is not an isolated incident.
The killer, known as Mary Smith, has done this before and
plans to kill again. Right from the beginning, this case is
like nothing Alex has ever confronted. Is this the plan of
an obsessed fan or a spurned actor, or is it part of
something much more frightening? And particularly baffling,
how could a woman be capable of these vicious crimes?
Members of Hollywood+s A-list fear they+re next on Mary+s
list, and the case grows by blockbuster proportions as the
LAPD and FBI scramble to find a pattern before Mary can
send one more chilling update.