Alex Cross is a fictional character created by author James Patterson. He is the protagonist of the series of books about a former FBI agent and psychologist who works in Washington DC.

Biography

At eight his mother died of lung cancer and a year later his father died of alcoholism, so he was sent to Washington DC to live with his grandmother, whom he calls Nana Mama. He eventually received a doctorate in psychology from Johns Hopkins University and then worked as a migrant farm worker for a year. Afterwards, he started a private practice and worked as a psychologist for two years, but eventually decided to become a policeman after he had become disillusioned with the politics of the medical community (Violets Are Blue).

Cross joined the police force because the people in his neighborhood could not afford his services. His first case involved two men who were shot and whose killings were written off as drug-related. Since he knew both men, he began to investigate and found one of the men was dating a woman who was also dating the local drug dealer.

He was still living with Nana Mama and his children, Damon, Janelle (Jannie), by his wife Maria Simpson-Cross and Alex Jr. (Ali) from his fiancé Christine Johnson. Cross teaches his two elder children boxing in his home's basement (Pop Goes the Weasel).

Cross carries a Glock 9 mm pistol. He drives a 1974 Porsche and bought a Mercedes-Benz R350 to replace Maria's old Toyota. He plays the piano to relax and owns an Abyssinian cat named Rosie, who showed up one day and never left.

Cross volunteers at St. Anthony's soup kitchen frequently, where he is known as the "Peanut Butter Man". He began doing this with Maria. His partner in the PD, John Sampson, also volunteers there. Sampson calls Cross "Sugar" as a term of endearment while Cross calls Sampson "Man-Mountain" or "Two-John". They have been best friends since the age of 10 (Pop Goes the Weasel).


Love interests
Alex has bad luck with women. His wife Maria was murdered before the series began. His lover in Along Came a Spider, Jezzie Flanigan, is involved in the kidnapping of two children, for which she is executed by lethal injection. In Kiss The Girls, Cross develops a deep friendship with Dr. Kateyla "Kate" McTiernan. There were hints of a possible romantic relationship, but they preferred to remain friends. In Jack & Jill, Alex meets Christine Johnson for the first time and falls in love with her by Cat & Mouse, in which they start dating. In Pop Goes the Weasel, Christine accepts his proposal. Christine is then kidnapped for almost a year by Geoffrey Shafer, during which time she is pregnant with Alex's son "Ali". After finding her at the end of the book, Alex meets his new son for the first time. By Roses Are Red, Christine has changed. She breaks off the engagement and moves to Seattle, leaving Ali with Alex. Detective Patsy Hampton then shows interest in Alex, but she is killed by Geoffrey before anything serious could happen. An FBI agent with whom he had partnered in Roses Are Red, Betsey Cavalierre, showed possible romantic interest in Alex and the two began a relationship. She was murdered by a serial killer called "The Mastermind". It was later revealed, by the Mastermind himself, in Violets Are Blue, that Betsey really liked Alex, even more than just a friend. Later he met a San Francisco Police Department inspector, Jamilla Hughes, with whom he struck up a relationship in Violets Are Blue. They remained together for a few books, but due to living far apart and Alex's commitment to his job, they parted company in Mary Mary. After breaking with Jamilla, Alex meets Jeanne Galleta, who shows some interest, but the two never officially start a relationship, going out only once.

He next begins a relationship with Dr. Kayla Coles, a resident physician at a hospital in Southeast Washington, D.C. The two meet in Four Blind Mice and start dating in Mary Mary. Both Alex and Kayla became close in Cross. They were both born in North Carolina and raised in Washington, D.C. Kayla has since returned to North Carolina.

In Cross Country, it is revealed that Alex dated a woman named Eleanor Cox in college. She was Alex's first love, before Maria and they fell in love during his summer internship at Sibley Memorial. Eleanor is killed by The Tiger, which causes Alex great pain. Also in Cross Country, Alex meets a reporter from The Guardian newspaper, Adanne Tansi, in Nigeria. They share a kiss and show romantic interest in each other, but prefer to remain friends. Adanne, too, is killed by the Tiger.

His next romantic involvement is with a rising star in the PD, Detective Brianna "Bree" Stone, who is introduced in Double Cross. Deeply in love with Bree, Alex proposes to her in I, Alex Cross, and she happily accepts. They marry in Cross Fire, finally ending Alex's bad luck.

Maria was originally thought to have been killed by an antagonist named Michael "The Butcher" Sullivan. However, in Cross, Cross learns that his best friend, John Sampson, and another detective, Rakeem Powell, had killed Maria's real murderer, Jimmy Hats Galati. Sampson couldn't bring himself to tell Cross because he knew that Cross would be unable to deal with the fact that he had not done it himself. Alex finally comes to terms with Maria's death at the end of Cross and is able to move on, hoping that he may find love again in the future.

Best films