Somebody is murdering Hollywood's A-list.
FBI agent Alex Cross is on vacation when he gets a call from the Director. An actress has been shot outside her home in Beverly Hills. Afterward, an editor for the Los Angeles Times receives an e-mail recounting the murder in shocking detail, signed Mary Smith. Her calling card: "You've got mail." The authorities fear this is only the beginning. Mary Smith is targeting Hollywood stars and power brokers, and she is getting better every time. This case is like nothing Alex has ever confronted before. Could this be the plan of an obsessed fan or a spurned actor, or is it part of something much more terrifying? And how could a woman be capable of these vicious crimes? To track a merciless killer, Alex navigates a world where the stars sip San Pellegrino at the Ivy as hopefuls hover around studio gates armed with 8 X 10 glossies. Members of the A-list fear they're next on Mary's list, and Cross and the LAPD scramble to find a pattern before Mary can send one more chilling update. Filled with the ruthless twists that make his fans hunger for more, Mary, Mary is James Patterson's most sophisticated thriller yet.In Patterson's 11th Alex Cross thriller (after London Bridges), the FBI agent is asked to investigate a serial killer who targets women with two things in common: they're all connected to Hollywood studios, and they're all the mothers of young children. In each crime, the killer leaves behind three stickers with the letters A, A, and B; shortly thereafter, a Los Angeles Times entertainment columnist receives an email addressed to the victim with an explanation of how she was stalked and murdered. A self-styled "Storyteller," the killer signs these gripping messages with the name "Mary Smith." But is the killer a man or a woman? And has the "story" spun out of control? Complicating the investigation are Alex's own family problems: he's about to lose a custody battle over his youngest son, his other children are being neglected, and his relationship with a female police inspector is at risk. Though lacking the richness and complexity of other psychological thrillers, e.g., Dennis Lehane's Shutter Island, Patterson's story, told in 121 brief chapters, flows effortlessly and with mounting suspense to its final, shocking twist; a fascinating psycho will captivate the author's many fans. Recommended for popular fiction collections. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 7/05.]-Ronnie H. Terpening, Univ. of Arizona, Tucson Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.