NYPD Detective Michael Bennett is about to take on the most sinister challenge of his career. The nation has fallen into mourning after the unexpected death of a beloved former first lady, and the most powerful people in the world gather in New York for her funeral. Then the inconceivable occurs. Billionaires, politicians, and superstars of every kind are suddenly trapped within one man's brilliant and cold-blooded scenario. Bennett, father of 10, is pulled into the fray.

In this startling psychological thriller, a killer is targeting young women in New York City and is obsessed with Michael Bennett's daughter.

Since former Marine Jack Morgan started Private, it has become the world's most effective investigation firm--sought out by the famous and the powerful to discreetly handle their most intimate problems. Private's investigators are the smartest, the fastest, and the most technologically advanced in the world--and they always uncover the truth.

Alex Cross is a homicide detective with a Ph.D. in psychology. He works and lives in Southeast D.C. and looks like Muhammad Ali in his prime. He's a tough guy from a tough part of town who wears Harris Tweed jackets and likes to relax by banging out Gershwin tunes on his baby grand piano. But he also has two adorable kids of his own, and they are his own special vulnerabilities.

For Hannah Shapiro, a young American student, the nightmare began eight years ago in Los Angeles, when the owner of Private--the world's most exclusive detective agency--saved her from a horrific death. Now, after eight years, the terror follows her to London. The only man who can help is former Royal Military Police Sergeant Dan Carter, head of Private London.