One of the things that enriches the character of Alex Cross is his family. It makes him seem more real and shows a dimension of his humanity that goes beyond his work. This story is made more intense by the threat his work sometimes brings home to his family. When tracking a serial killer, it can become difficult to determine exactly who is the prey and who is the predator.

The two simultaneous cases that Alex works in this story serve up plenty of tension and excitement. A child killer strikes close to home when a little girl is found dead near his son's school. But at the same time, a pair of psychos who go by the names Jack and Jill start a spectacular series of celebrity killings. The child killer is a personal matter as much as a professional one, but Alex is forced by his chief to put most of his energy into the Jack and Jill case.

As is typical of this series, the character of the killers is nearly as developed as that of the "good guys," which can be quite disturbing at times. In spite of that, this book was a page-turner.