Alex Cross Must Die (also titled Cross Out) is the thirty-second book in the Alex Cross series by American author, James Patterson. Neither title bears even the vaguest relation to anything that happens in the plot. Investigation consultant to Washington’s MPD and the FBI, Alex Cross and his friend, MPD Senior Detective John Sampson are investigating the case of the Dead Hours murders, a serial killer who shoots his victims in the eyes, then covers them with a sheet, always in the early hours.

While with the family of the fourth victim, they are urgently called away to the scene of a downed American Airlines jet: it’s quickly apparent that, as it was landing, the plane was shot down from a nearby park, but a separate explosion obliterates most evidence of the perpetrator. Work on all manner of clues by seven different law enforcement bodies eventually identifies a football coach whose former US Airforce career took him to the Middle East. But do they have the right man?

Meanwhile, former MPD chief, Bree Stone is asked by her boss at international security company, Bluestone Group, to look into the recent very uncharacteristic media silence of her friend, Lee Anne Asher, an entrepreneur whose successful high-profile IT company is about to go public.

Lee Anne’s last contact was three days earlier, and Elena is worried, as is Lee Anne’s PA Jill. As Bree delves into the CEO’s emails, she learns that her boss hasn’t been completely honest about her friend. And as Bree investigates further, it looks like Lee Anne might be one of over a hundred casualties on the downed flight. But that immediately raises the question of why she was on the flight under another name.

Back at the Cross home, as Nana Cross tries to look after the physical and mental needs of her brood whilst also launching a teaching career on Zoom, Jannie asks for Bree’s help with a running friend who is apparently being blackmailed. It turns out, though, that Bree’s expertise has to take a different direction.

It’s not until the Dead Hours killer has claimed a seventh victim that the particular feature linking all the victims is identified, that the killer’s misstep with one victim, and Ali Cross’s covert surveillance of the crime scenes reveal the perpetrator. Lots of action and a dramatic climax or two: standard Patterson fare.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Random House UK