The 18th novel in the bestselling Alex Cross series

The Presidents children have been kidnapped. Detective Alex Cross is on the case.

First on the scene to a crime that rocks the world, Alex Cross grapples with an impossible crime and with political pressure, finding himself shunted to the sidelines.

But a terrible week gets worse as a deadly contaminant in the Washington D.C. water supply cripples the capital, and Cross, under extraordinary stress, realises that the cases are connected. America is under attack.

Tasked by the desperate First Lady with finding her children, Cross is racingagainst the clock and to have any chance of saving them, he must make a desperate decision that goes against everything he believes in

JAMES PATTERSON is one of the best-known and biggest-selling writers of all time. His books have sold in excess of 375 million copies worldwide. He is the author of some of the most popular series of the past two decades the Alex Cross, Womens Murder Club, Detective Michael Bennett and Private novels and he has written many other number one bestsellers including romance novels and stand-alone thrillers.

James is passionate about encouraging children to read. Inspired by his own son who was a reluctant reader, he also writes a range of books for young readers including the Middle School, I Funny, Treasure Hunters, House of Robots, Confessions, and Maximum Ride series. James has donated millions in grants to independent bookshops and has been the most borrowed author of adult fiction in UK libraries for the past eleven years in a row. He lives in Florida with his wife and son.