disrupt his life any further, Cross returns home to spend time with his family. Characters Alex Cross: An African-American forensic psychologist as well as a detective, described as good-looking and well-built. He is often referred to as "Doctor Detective". Despite being very dedicated to his job, he manages to be a devoted father to his two children. His wife, Maria, was killed in a shooting before the novel begins and he is romantically involved with Jezzie Flannagan before he finds out her role in Maggie Rose's disappearance. Jezzie Flannagan: Before the kidnapping of Maggie Rose and Michael Goldberg, she held an esteemed position in the Secret Service—the first woman ever to hold the position. She is described as very beautiful, though she confides in Alex that she wishes she'd been born plain so she wouldn't have to face as much sexism in her workplace. As a white woman romantically involved with Alex (an African-American man), she faces racism, though she handles it better than Alex does. Both her parents were alcoholics, and her father committed suicide. She names them as "smart failures", or brilliant people who never made anything of their lives. When Alex confronts her about her betrayal, she admits that she approached him at first strictly to get information on what the cops knew, but that she later fell in love with him and his children. Gary Murphy/Soneji: As a boy, he was physically and sexually abused by his father and stepmother, which caused him to develop a split personality. Gary Murphy is a normal, all-American father and husband, while Gary Soneji is a cold-blooded predator who fantasizes about kidnapping and burying a baby alive at twelve and orchestrates the kidnapping of Maggie Rose and Michael Goldberg. He has an obsession with being famous, and wants to be the most feared criminal in America. In other media Film A film adaptation of the same name was released on April 6, 2001, starring Morgan Freeman as Alex Cross, Monica Potter as Jezzie Flannagan, and Michael Wincott as Gary Soneji. The adaptation makes substantial changes to the plot, omitting much of Soneji's background and his split personality, as well as changing the identity of the kidnapped children's parents and many characters' eventual fate. References 1993 American novels Alex Cross (novel series) American detective novels American thriller novels American novels adapted into films Little, Brown and Company books Novels about child