Part of Alex Cross, book 7
First published 2002
Detective Alex Cross never gave vampires a second thought until two joggers turn up dead in Washington D.C. The crime scene suggests ritual killing. The victims were drained of blood in ways that mirror vampire folklore. Local cops are disturbed by what they find. The FBI cannot make sense of the evidence. Cross enters a hidden world of secret societies and people who role-play as supernatural creatures. Most are harmless pretenders, but someone has moved from fantasy to murder. Cross must separate the poseurs from a genuine killer. Meanwhile, the Mastermind, a brilliant criminal from his past, returns to torment him. This enemy knows Cross intimately and threatens his family. Cross faces attacks on two fronts as both cases demand his attention. The vampire murders continue while the Mastermind closes in. Cross has never been this vulnerable or this close to losing everything that matters to him.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, detective
Vibes: dark, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: cat-and-mouse, enemies-to-lovers
Setting: Washington D.C.
Period: contemporary
391 pages · Hardcover · Grand Central Publishing
Content warnings: murder, violence