Alex Cross's family has been abducted - and a madman named Thierry Mulch is threatening to kill them one by one. Blinded by rage and gripped with fear, Cross would do anything to have Bree, Nana Mama and his beautiful children back home. But Mulch doesn't care about money or mercy. He is obsessed with studying the psychology behind the perfect criminal. Cross realizes a deeply terrifying truth: Mulch doesn't want to become the perfect killer - he wants to create one. And he's picked Alex Cross to be the guinea pig.