Alex Cross Books in Order: How To Read James Patterson’s Series?

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Alex Cross is the main protagonist in a long-running series of books by James Patterson. He is an African-American Police Department detective in the city of Washington, D.C. He often chases after serial killers and other violent criminals who target him in return. This is mostly simple as that for us, not for Cross who ends up losing a lot and risking even more.

Cross is a brilliant and dedicated detective who is determined to solve even the most complex and difficult cases. He is also deeply committed to his family and his community. Despite his profession, Cross often finds himself in dangerous situations and must use his intelligence, skills, and determination to outwit his enemies and bring criminals to justice.

How to read the Alex Cross Series in Order?

The Alex Cross book series is not a short one. There are a lot of novels and the titles are sometimes pretty similar. Even if most of the books can be read independently, it’s recommended to read them in order, especially if you don’t want to spoil the previous books if you didn’t read them.

After 24 books, you’ll find two bookShots: those are lightning-fast stories by James Patterson, novels you can devour in a few hours. The Alex Cross series has been running since the 1990s and contains now more than 30 novels. His son Ali has even his own book series since 2019 (see at the end of the article).

  1. Along Came a Spider – When a killer kidnapped two well-known rich kids, and one of them was found dead, Alex Cross and Jezzie Flanagan, an ambitious young Secret Service agent are on the case.
  2. Kiss the Girls – Alex Cross is about to be thrust into a case with two killers preying on opposite sides of America. One is terrorizing Los Angeles, the other is abducting women on college campuses on the east coast – both are cooperating, communicating … and competing.
  3. Jack and Jill – Alex Cross faces a pair of ice-cold killers who are picking off the capital’s rich and famous one by one with chilling professional efficiency. As the whole country awaits the identity of the next celebrity victim, only Alex Cross has the skills and the courage to crack the case – but will he discover the truth before ’Jack and Jill’ set their sights on Washington’s ultimate celebrity target?
  1. Cat and Mouse – Just as Alex Cross is beginning to feel that life is good and he is finally coming out of the depression he’s been in since the death of his wife, he is called to Union Station train terminal – a man is on the loose, firing at random into the swarming crowds of travelers.
  2. Pop Goes the Weasel – Alex Cross: senior Washington, DC homicide detective, he is determined, whatever the consequences, to unmask the man he has nicknamed the weasel, the prime suspect for a spate of killings that Cross has been forbidden to investigate.
  3. Roses are Red – A series of meticulously planned bank robberies ends in murder, and detective 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.
  1. Violets are Blue – Two joggers have been found dead in San Francisco – bitten and hung by their feet to drain the blood. Further murders in California, and then on the East Coast as well, completely baffle Alex and the FBI. Desperate to stop the deaths, Alex teams up with Jamilla Hughes and the FBI’s Kyle Craig.
  2. Four Blind Mice – Three young military wives have been brutally killed during a ‘girls’ night out’ and Sampson’s friend, a master sergeant at the army base, stands accused. Uncovering evidence of a series of suspicious murder convictions, Alex and Sampson are determined to infiltrate the closed world of the military.
  3. The Big Bad Wolf – Across the country, men and women are kidnapped in broad daylight and then disappear completely. These people are not being taken for ransom, Alex realizes. They are being bought and sold. And it seems The Wolf is the master criminal behind this terrible trade and who is bringing a new reign of terror to organized crime.
  1. London Bridges – Alex Cross is on vacation when he gets the call. A town in Nevada has been annihilated and the Russian super-criminal known as the Wolf is claiming responsibility. Major cities around the globe are threatened with total destruction and the thought of such dark genius at work makes Alex’s blood run cold.
  2. Mary, Mary – A well-known actress has been shot outside her Beverly Hills home. Shortly afterward, the Los Angeles Times receives an email describing the murder in vivid detail. It is signed Mary Smith. More killings and emails follow – the victims are all major Hollywood players.
  3. Cross – Years after his wife’s death, having left the FBI and returned to practicing psychology, Alex Cross finally feels his life is in order…Until his former partner, John Sampson, calls in a favor. John’s tracking a serial rapist in Georgetown and he needs Alex to help find this brutal predator.
  1. Double Cross – Just when Alex Cross’s life is calming down, he’s drawn back into the game to confront the Audience Killer – a terrifying genius who stages his killings as public spectacles in Washington, DC and broadcasts them live on the net. In Colorado, another criminal mastermind is planning a triumphant return.
  2. Cross Country – When Alex Cross is called to investigate a massacre-style murder scene, he is shocked to find that one of the victims is an old friend. Angry, grieving, and more determined than ever, Cross begins the hunt for the perpetrators of this vicious crime. He is drawn into a dangerous underworld right in the heart of Washington DC that leads him on a life-threatening journey to the Niger Delta, where heroin dealing, slave trading and corruption are rife.
  3. Alex Cross’s Trial – From his grandmother, Alex Cross has heard the story of his great-uncle Abraham and his struggles for survival in the era of the Ku Klux Klan. Now, Alex passes the family tale along to his own children in a novel he’s written – a novel called “Trial’.
  1. I, Alex Cross – Alex Cross is pulled out of a family celebration and given the awful news that his niece, Caroline, has been found brutally murdered. Cross vows to hunt down the killer, and soon learns that Caroline was mixed up in one of Washington’s wildest scenes. And she was not this killer’s only victim.
  2. Cross Fire – Alex Cross is planning his wedding to the woman he loves, Brianna Stone. But this blissful existence begins to unravel when Cross is called to the scene of the perfectly executed assassination of two of Washington DC’s most corrupt and publically hated political figures.
  3. Kill Alex Cross – Alex Cross is one of the first on the scene of the biggest case he’s ever been part of. The President’s son and daughter have been abducted from their school – an impossible crime, but somehow the kidnapper has done it. Alex does everything he can but is shunted to the fringes of the investigation. Someone powerful doesn’t want Cross too close.
  1. Merry Christmas, Alex Cross – It’s Christmas Eve in Washington DC, Alex Cross is at home with his family decorating the tree when he receives a phone call that causes the festivities to be put on hold. Across town in a mansion house, Henry Fowler, a hard-nosed corporate lawyer turned small-time drug hustler, is holding his children, his ex-wife, her new husband and a neighbour at gun point.
  2. Alex Cross, Run – Three killers are on the rampage in the capital and dead bodies are piling up almost as fast as the police can count them. Alex Cross is in charge of all three investigations and has never been under more pressure. But with a crisis at home that threatens to tear his family apart, Alex’s attention is divided.
  3. Cross My Heart – Alex Cross’ whole world is crashing down around him. He has been hunted, stalked like prey, his predator priming himself for the kill. Cross has devoted his life to protecting others. Now he’s unable to protect even those closest to him. As a police detective, he has made many enemies, but never like this.
  1. Hope to Die – Alex Cross has lost everything and everyone he’s ever cared about. His enemy, Thierry Mulch, is holding his family. Driven by feelings of hatred and revenge, Mulch is threatening to kill them all, and break Cross for ever. But Alex Cross is fighting back.
  2. Cross Justice – When his cousin is accused of an unthinkable crime, Alex Cross returns to his North Carolina hometown for the first time in over three decades. As he tries to prove his cousin’s innocence in a town where justice is hard to find, Cross unearths a family secret that forces him to question everything he’s ever known.
  3. Cross the Line – Shots ring out in the early morning hours in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. When the smoke clears, a prominent police official lies dead, leaving the city’s police force scrambling for answers. Under pressure from the mayor, Alex Cross steps into the leadership vacuum to crack the case. But before Cross can make any headway, a brutal crime wave sweeps across the region.
  1. Cross Kill (BookShots) – Along Came a Spider killer Gary Soneji has been dead for over ten years. Alex Cross watched him die. But today, Cross saw him gun down his partner. Is Soneji alive? A ghost? Or something even more sinister?
  2. Detective Cross (BookShots) – An anonymous caller has promised to set off deadly bombs in Washington, DC. A cruel hoax or the real deal? By the time Alex Cross and his wife, Bree Stone, uncover the chilling truth, it may already be too late….
  3. The People vs. Alex Cross – Alex Cross has never been on the wrong side of the law–until now. Charged with gunning down followers of his nemesis Gary Soneji in cold blood, Cross is being turned into the poster child for trigger-happy cops who think they’re above the law.
  4. Target – A leader has fallen, and Alex Cross joins the procession of mourners from Capitol Hill to the White House. Then a sniper’s bullet strikes a target in the heart of DC. Alex Cross’s wife, Bree Stone, newly elevated chief of DC detectives must solve the case or lose her position. The Secret Service and the FBI deploy as well in the race to find the shooter. Alex is tasked by the new President to lead an investigation unprecedented in scale and scope.
  5. Criss Cross – In a Virginia penitentiary, Alex Cross and his partner, John Sampson, witness the execution of a killer they helped convict. Hours later, they are called to the scene of a copycat crime. A note signed “M” rests on the corpse. “You messed up big time, Dr. Cross.” Was an innocent man just put to death? Alex soon realizes he may have much to answer for, as “M” lures the detective out of the capital to the sites of multiple homicides, all marked with distressingly familiar details.
  1. Deadly Cross – Kay Willingham led a life as glamorous as it was public – she was a gorgeous Georgetown socialite, philanthropist, and the ex-wife of the vice-president. So why was she parked in a Bentley convertible idling behind a DC private school, in the middle of the night, with the man who was the head of that school? Who shot them both, point-blank, and why? The shocking double homicide is blazed across the internet, TV, newspapers – and across Alex Cross’ mind.
  2. Fear No Evil – Dr. Alex Cross and Detective John Sampson venture into the rugged Montana wilderness-where they will be the prey. They’re not on the job, but on a personal mission. Until they’re attacked by two rival teams of assassins, controlled by the same mastermind who has stalked Alex and his family for years. Darkness falls. The river churns into rapids. Shots ring out through the forest.
  3. Triple Cross – A methodical killer is targeting multigenerational families in and around Washington, DC-striking under cover of darkness, triggering no alarms, and leaving no physical evidence of any kind. Alex isn’t the only one investigating. Also on the case is a charismatic true-crime author who sees patterns the detectives miss.
  1. Cross Down (written with Brendan DuBois) – When military-style attacks erupt, brutally sidelining Cross, John Sampson is sent reeling. The patterns are too random-Sampson’s friend, his partner, his brother-have told him. Don’t trust anyone. As a shadow force advances on the nation’s capital, Sampson alone must protect the Cross family, his own young daughter, and every American, including the president.
  2. Alex Cross Must Die – When an American Airlines plane explodes in the sky, detectives Alex Cross and John Sampson are first on the scene. They don’t hear the gunfire. At first. It soon becomes clear that the plane was taken down by a rare, stolen machine gun. The list of people who could operate the weapon is short. And time runs even shorter. But this isn’t the only case the pair must solve. They’re also tracking a serial killer who’s ambushing young men in what the media are calling the ‘Dead Hours’ murders.

Ali Cross Books in Order

Since 2019, James Patterson is publishing a new Cross series, a spin-off for young readers, about Alex’s son Ali who wants to follow in his father’s steps.

  1. Ali Cross – Ali Cross knows Gabe Qualls better than anyone, so when his friend goes missing, Ali jumps right into action. Because Ali knows that with every day that passes without the police finding Gabe, the less likely it is that he’ll ever be found. And being Alex Cross’s son, he refuses to accept those odds.
  2. Ali Cross: Like Father Like Son – When Ali sees a friend get hurt, he’s the best person to find out who did it. Even if he’s only a kid. After all, he’s Alex Cross’s son. Solving crimes runs in the family.
  3. The Secret Detective – Ali Cross has always looked up to his father, the famous detective Alex Cross. And after helping to solve two big cases, Ali knows he has what it takes to follow in his father’s footsteps. Eager to keep solving crimes, Ali and his friends hack into police calls and go to crime scenes to watch the detectives at work-and try to crack the cases themselves.

More crime novels to read after Alex Cross

If our article about the Alex Cross Reading Order is useful to you, don’t forget to bookmark it!

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17 Comments

  1. I could never really put a face to Alex Cross until Tyler Perry did his movie. Perry is the consummate Alex Cross!!! I only wish they would make more of the Alex Cross stories into movies!!! So great to see them come to life!!!

    1. I agree he is a very good choice for Alex Cross the only problem is if Hollywood to agree to do another set of movers for Alex Cross only time will tell,

    2. After falling for Luther, I too pictured Idris Elba as my Alex Cross! Tyler Perry was more his best friend John!

    3. I wish the same thing as well those is so many good actors that portray Alex Cross if they made him into movers again,and some really good stories with all 26 books that should hopefully turn into movies even though some of them have already have , all these books I’ve read should an turn into epic movies

    4. Totally agree with you, Joyce. I have read nearly all the Cross series books & would love to see more on the big screen.

      The other series I would love to see on the Big Screen is the Womens Murder Club…& I think Sandra Bullock is just the gal to play Detective Boxer…..she would suit that role beautifully.

    5. @Joyce Frost, I totally agree!! I would love to see if not all, then maybe half turned into movies. I’m so addicted to the Alex Cross series.

  2. Have just read, and enjoyed very much, “Cross My Heart”. Have read only one other Alex Cross book. Very helpful to have the order they were written in. Now I intend to go back and start at the beginning and, hopefully, read them all.

    1. That’s what I’m going to start doing even though I’ve read all the early of books out of order but now I will be going back to the start.

  3. I hope another Alex Cross comes out soon love this series and I cannot wait for book 27 to come out.

  4. I have the whole Alex Cross series and hope to heck he keeps writti g Alex Cross books. Are there going to be any new ones coming out?

  5. Thanks Fabien,
    I have read many James’s books and have listed them in order. I am reading Violets are blue and Kyle Craig is still in this one, I thought he revealed himself in Roses are red.
    Thank you.
    Neridah Beecroft.

  6. I finished Kiss the Girls, but the book ended with Alex not
    catching Casinova. John came to Alex’s door and said there had been a terrible crime and then the book ended. I thought the story line would pick up in next book, which was Jack and Jill, but it was just a new story. Help!!!

  7. I’m reading the Alex cross series in order. I’m at “Cross the Line now. Each book is unique enough that I still come back wanting more. The details he has researched & written in his novels is fantastic. I have access to maps of the areas they investigate in. I follow along. It makes it much more clear & gives it even more depth & enjoyment for me.
    I started Jan 1st, 2022. It’s March 18th, 2022 now. Keep on reading, people!🤓📚

  8. Hi,
    Thanks for the list, it’s been really helpful 😊
    I have been a James Patterson fan since my teens, but until just a few years ago I didn’t have the space to keep the books and it was a case of borrowing from the Library, or buying them and passing them on to charity shops when I had finished them. I’m now trying to collect all his books now (I’m currently up to 48 books – out of over 150!!! 😳😆), but especially the Alex Cross series – my plan was initially to collect the whole set before starting from the beginning and re-reading them in the correct order, however since I’m buying them mainly 2nd hand, I am getting them completely out of order and can’t help but read them again as soon as I get them 😆. They are just so good!!!

    If anyone knows of anywhere I could get them at reasonably low prices – I don’t mind if they are a bit tatty and ‘dog-eared’ but I do need paperback as I’m disabled and unable to hold the weight of hardback books anymore – I would be very grateful if you could let me know.

    Many thanks

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