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'No one gets this big without amazing natural storytelling talent - which is what Jim has, in spades. The Alex Cross series proves it.' LEE CHILD

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

On the night before Christmas, Detective Alex Cross is at home celebrating with his family. But when Cross's phone rings, he knows that this won't be a merry Christmas.

A father has taken his children and ex-wife hostage. Armed to the teeth and high on crystal meth, the man is dangerously unstable. The lives of everyone in that house are hanging by a thread.

As this suburban nightmare is unfolding, another far greater threat is approaching. It will be a terrorist attack on a scale never before seen in Washington, DC, and when nobody expects it.

'Alex Cross is a legend' HARLAN COBEN

'Fast-paced and tightly plotted, this is a dramatic thriller that shows why the books in this series sell by the truckload' SUNDAY MIRROR

'The master storyteller of our times' HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON

'It's no mystery why James Patterson is the world's most popular thriller writer . . . Simply put: nobody does it better.' JEFFERY DEAVER

'Patterson boils a scene down to the single, telling detail, the element that defines a character or moves a plot along. It's what fires off the movie projector in the reader's mind.' MICHAEL CONNELLY

'One of the greatest storytellers of all time' PATRICIA CORNWELL

'A writer with an unusual skill at thriller plotting.' MARK LAWSON, GUARDIAN

'James Patterson is The Boss. End of.' IAN RANKIN

© James Patterson 2012 (P) Penguin Audio 2012