February 1, 2003 marked the beginning of an amazing detective series, with a book called Along Came a Spider. Sadly, it also got turned into a sub-par movie staring Morgan Freeman, but that is a tangent for another day.
It begins, like every good mystery novel, by showing us the villain and his crime. This time we are introduced to Gary Soneji: every parent's worst nightmare. He calls himself "the son of Lindbergh." His family and colleagues know him as a mild-mannered, unassuming guy, and would find it impossible to imagine him as a psychopath, a serial murderer, and now, the perpetrator of the most notorious kidnapping of the century. Only Soneji knows himself as the killer of countless victims and as the merciless kidnapper of Maggie Rose, the golden-haired daughter of a famous actress, and Shrimpie Goldberg, the young son of the Secretary of the Treasury.
The unenviable task of tracking down Soneji has been assigned to Alec Cross, a black Washington, D.C., homicide detective with a Ph.D. in psychology and a soft spot for the mysterious, seductive, blonde Secret Service supervisor who has also been drawn into the case. Suddenly, everything in Cross's personal and professional life has become explosive.
As a man, Cross must deal with the conflicts and dangers of a forbidden love affair. As a psychologist, he must face the toughest test of his career: How do you outsmart a brilliant psychopath, especially one who appears to have a split personality -- one who won't let the other half remember those horrific acts?
So far, Soneji has eluded the FBI, the Secret Service, and the police. Who will be his next victim?
Thankfully a couple of people, most undeserving of his brutal actions. It was the first book I read that spent a significant amount of time focused on the psychology of the actual criminal, rather than just following his actions.
I just reread it again last weekend and still consider it one of the best mystery novels I've read.
Oh, and it is also available as an ebook from eReader.com, which is my new favorite medium for the written word. Plus, you can't beat $4 and change for a novel you can keep on your desktop, your Treo, your laptop, etc...
The unenviable task of tracking down Soneji has been assigned to Alec Cross, a black Washington, D.C., homicide detective with a Ph.D. in psychology and a soft spot for the mysterious, seductive, blonde Secret Service supervisor who has also been drawn into the case. Suddenly, everything in Cross's personal and professional life has become explosive.
As a man, Cross must deal with the conflicts and dangers of a forbidden love affair. As a psychologist, he must face the toughest test of his career: How do you outsmart a brilliant psychopath, especially one who appears to have a split personality -- one who won't let the other half remember those horrific acts?
So far, Soneji has eluded the FBI, the Secret Service, and the police. Who will be his next victim?
Thankfully a couple of people, most undeserving of his brutal actions. It was the first book I read that spent a significant amount of time focused on the psychology of the actual criminal, rather than just following his actions.
I just reread it again last weekend and still consider it one of the best mystery novels I've read.
Oh, and it is also available as an ebook from eReader.com, which is my new favorite medium for the written word. Plus, you can't beat $4 and change for a novel you can keep on your desktop, your Treo, your laptop, etc...
