"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...

"Both adopted, and now grown, [Michael and Megan Fitzgerald] ... trust each other before anyone else ... Their parents are public intellectuals, ... and they brought up their adopted children in a rarefied, experimental environment. It sheltered them from the world's harsh realities, but it also forced secrets upon them ... In Los Angeles, Detective Garrett Dobbs and FBI Agent Jessica Gimble have joined forces to work a murder that seems like a dead...