Patterson seems to be getting his Alex Cross series back on track with his most recent volume. In I, Alex Cross, murder hits home when one of the victims turns out to be Caroline, the 24-year-old daughter of his deceased brother. It quickly becomes clear that Caroline was working as a prostitute at a secret, high-end brothel in the woods of Virginia that provided services for politicians, businesspeople, celebrities and foreign dignitaries of both sexes. It is going to be a difficult case because even the body is going to reveal few clues since the remains were run through a wood chipper.

After a preliminary search, Alex and his team learn that Caroline is not the only prostitute that has disappeared. Five other young people (male and female) who fit the profile have also disappeared. While this seems to be a dead end, Alex gets some support from the FBI. The problem is that it is not always clear whether the agents involved are there to help out or to interfere with the investigation.

The killer, who goes by the code name Zeus, is well-connected in the presidential administration and is using every resource he has to run interference as he continues to feed his evil sexual-predatory behavior. This coverup leads to a series of further murders as everyone connected to Zeus starts turning up dead. Unfortunately, for Zeus, this actually helps the investigation as it leads to more clues.

Alex is having to balance this intense investigation with some trouble at home. All is going well with Bree, his current girlfriend, and the kids are growing up and living up a storm. In the middle of the night, though, Alex and Bree awake to the sound of a crash. They rush downstairs and find that Nana Mama has collapsed. This starts a challenging journey as the whole family must deal with worsening health issues for the family matriarch.

While this is not the best book in the series, it is a return for Alex to the realm of being a regular detective. Recent books have started to turn him into SuperAlex who is able to deal with anything and everything as the everyone around him comes across as a bumbling fool. Now, it is up to him and his team to deal with regular clues to find the killer. And boy does he wont to because this time it is personal.