Reading Order
Alex Cross Books in Order
Quick answer
Read the Alex Cross novels in publication order, starting with Along Came a Spider (1993). There are 34 novels as of 2026; the newest is Return of the Spider (2025). James Patterson has confirmed a 35th, The Family Cross, with no release date announced yet. Every book is written solely by Patterson, and the series mostly follows one continuous timeline, so publication order is also the right reading order. If you came from the Prime Video show, it stars Aldis Hodge as Cross and tells its own case rather than adapting one specific book.
Alex Cross is a Washington, DC homicide detective and forensic psychologist who keeps getting pulled onto the cases nobody else can close. Over three decades and 34 books, he has moved through the police department, the FBI, private practice and back again, while his family — grandmother Nana Mama, his kids, his second wife Bree Stone — stays a constant. Below is the full publication order, the film and TV adaptations, and where to start.
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Alex Cross Books in Order of Publication
| # | Title | Year | Hook (no spoilers) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Along Came a Spider | 1993 | Two children vanish from an elite DC school, and Cross faces a kidnapper obsessed with a famous unsolved case. |
| 2 | Kiss the Girls | 1995 | Cross's niece is abducted by a serial kidnapper known as Casanova, on the other side of the country. |
| 3 | Jack & Jill | 1996 | A killer duo targets prominent Washington figures while taunting police with nursery-rhyme clues. |
| 4 | Cat and Mouse | 1997 | Two killers from Cross's past resurface at once, one of them determined to finish what he started. |
| 5 | Pop Goes the Weasel | 1999 | A British diplomat plays a deadly game that implicates him in a string of murders Cross can't pin down. |
| 6 | Roses Are Red | 2000 | A meticulous bank-robbery mastermind called the Mastermind stays one step ahead of the task force. |
| 7 | Violets Are Blue | 2001 | The Mastermind thread continues alongside a pair of killers who believe they are vampires. |
| 8 | Four Blind Mice | 2002 | Sampson's friend is sentenced to death for murder, and Cross digs into a conspiracy tied to military assassins. |
| 9 | The Big Bad Wolf | 2003 | Now with the FBI, Cross investigates a human-trafficking ring run by a man known only as the Wolf. |
| 10 | London Bridges | 2004 | A global extortion plot threatens entire cities, and Cross is pulled into an international manhunt. |
| 11 | Mary, Mary | 2005 | A killer who calls herself the School Teacher targets celebrities and emails a tabloid reporter after each hit. |
| 12 | Cross | 2006 | Cross finally gets a lead on the man who killed his wife years earlier, and the case turns personal fast. |
| 13 | Double Cross | 2007 | Two killers work in tandem against Cross, one of them a returning nemesis. |
| 14 | Cross Country | 2008 | A massacre at a DC party sends Cross to Nigeria chasing a warlord connected to the killings. |
| 15 | Alex Cross's Trial | 2009 | A prequel told by a different narrator: Cross's great-uncle confronts lynch-mob violence in the Jim Crow South. |
| 16 | I, Alex Cross | 2009 | The death of Cross's niece leads to a conspiracy that reaches disturbingly close to the White House. |
| 17 | Cross Fire | 2010 | A sniper is picking off corrupt DC politicians one by one, and Cross has his own wedding to think about. |
| 18 | Kill Alex Cross | 2011 | The president's children are kidnapped, and a separate threat against the water supply raises the stakes citywide. |
| 19 | Merry Christmas, Alex Cross | 2012 | A holiday hostage crisis forces Cross back into action days before Christmas. |
| 20 | Alex Cross, Run | 2013 | Three murders in one night push Cross toward a killer with a very personal grudge against him. |
| 21 | Cross My Heart | 2013 | A stalker who has studied Cross's entire life threatens to take his family apart. |
| 22 | Hope to Die | 2014 | Direct sequel to Cross My Heart: Cross's family is taken, and the clock is explicit and brutal. |
| 23 | Cross Justice | 2015 | Cross returns to his North Carolina hometown to clear a cousin accused of murder, and old family history surfaces. |
| 24 | Cross the Line | 2016 | The DC police chief's murder and a pair of young carjackers-turned-killers pull Cross in two directions. |
| 25 | The People vs. Alex Cross | 2017 | Cross is on trial himself over a shooting, while a new predator stalks DC's streets. |
| 26 | Target: Alex Cross | 2018 | A plot aimed squarely at the White House puts Cross between a killer and the president. |
| 27 | Criss Cross | 2019 | A copycat resurrects crimes from Cross's earliest cases, forcing him to relive them to stop a new killer. |
| 28 | Deadly Cross | 2020 | A senator's mistress is murdered, and the investigation edges toward people with real power to lose. |
| 29 | Fear No Evil | 2021 | A serial-killer-turned-fugitive forces Cross into a case that spills past DC's borders. |
| 30 | Triple Cross | 2022 | A true-crime author's murders mirror real cases, and Cross has to work out which parts are fiction. |
| 31 | Cross Down | 2023 | A case with international reach puts Cross up against an adversary operating well outside DC. |
| 32 | Alex Cross Must Die | 2023 | The title says it plainly: someone wants Cross dead, and this time the threat is close to home. |
| 33 | The House of Cross | 2024 | A case that reaches back into Cross's own family history and the house he grew up in. |
| 34 | Return of the Spider | 2025 | A direct callback to Along Came a Spider, three decades later, with echoes of Cross's very first case. |
The series stays in roughly continuous time: Cross ages, remarries, moves agencies and raises his kids across the books, with no prequel jumps to track except Alex Cross's Trial (2009), which is narrated by a different ancestor entirely and can be read any time.
Where to Start (and Which Order We Recommend)
Start with Along Came a Spider and read in publication order. It sets up Cross's voice, his family and the forensic-psychologist angle that makes the series distinct from a straight procedural. Because the family relationships and Cross's career keep developing, publication order is also the story order here — there is no separate “chronological” sequence to untangle the way there is with some long-running thriller series.
If you want a sample before committing to 34 books, Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider are the two most adapted and the ones new readers usually recommend. If you like the forensic-detective-versus-serial-killer formula, our Jack Reacher reading order and best John Grisham books guides are good next stops.
What's Next: The New Alex Cross Book
Confirmed James Patterson's publisher lists The Family Cross as an upcoming Alex Cross novel (Little, Brown and Company, hardcover), described as Cross investigating a series of murders while a family crisis threatens to upend his life (jamespatterson.com).
Not confirmed No specific release date is listed on the publisher's page as of October 2026. Patterson has published roughly one new Cross novel a year since 2019, so a late-2026 date would fit the pattern, but treat that as an estimate, not an announcement.
Short Reads and Companion Titles
Patterson has also released quick-read “BookShots” novellas set in the Cross world, meant to be finished in under two hours. Cross Kill (2016) is one of them. These are extras, not required reading, and they sit outside the main numbered sequence above.
Alex Cross on Screen: Films and the Prime Video Series
Only confirmed facts here.
| Adaptation | Released | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Kiss the Girls (film) | 1997 | Morgan Freeman as Cross, with Ashley Judd. |
| Along Came a Spider (film) | 2001 | Morgan Freeman returns as Cross, with Monica Potter. Released after Kiss the Girls despite adapting the first book. |
| Alex Cross (film) | 2012 | Tyler Perry as a younger Cross, with Matthew Fox. A separate continuity from the Freeman films. |
| Cross, season 1 (Prime Video) | November 14, 2024 | Aldis Hodge as Cross, Isaiah Mustafa as John Sampson. 8 episodes, an original case rather than a direct adaptation of one novel. |
| Cross, season 2 (Prime Video) | February 2026 | Renewed before season 1 even premiered. |
Confirmed Cross was renewed for a third season in March 2026; no premiere date has been set as of October 2026.
Watching the show first will not spoil the books: it tells its own story with the characters rather than adapting a specific numbered entry.
Printable Checklist
Alex Cross Books FAQ
What is the first Alex Cross book?
Along Came a Spider (1993). It introduces Cross, a DC homicide detective and forensic psychologist, investigating the kidnapping of two children from an elite Washington school.
How many Alex Cross books are there?
34 novels as of 2026, from Along Came a Spider (1993) to Return of the Spider (2025). A 35th, The Family Cross, has been confirmed by the publisher with no release date announced yet.
Do you have to read Alex Cross books in order?
Not strictly; most cases are self-contained. But Cross's family, his relationships and his career moves build across the series, so publication order gives the most coherent read.
Is there an Alex Cross TV show?
Yes. Cross premiered on Prime Video November 14, 2024, with Aldis Hodge as Alex Cross and Isaiah Mustafa as John Sampson. It was renewed for a second season, which released in February 2026, and a third season.
Who wrote the Alex Cross books?
James Patterson writes every Alex Cross novel himself. Unlike several of his other series, the mainline Cross novels do not use a co-author.
What order are the Alex Cross movies in?
Kiss the Girls (1997) and Along Came a Spider (2001) both star Morgan Freeman as Cross, released out of book order. Alex Cross (2012), starring Tyler Perry, is a separate continuity and not a direct sequel to the Freeman films.
Thirty-four books and counting. Start with Along Came a Spider, and when you are ready for another detective series, browse all our reading-order guides.
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