I really found Michael Bennett and his large adopted family to be truly interesting in the first novel (Step on a Crack) in which they were presented by Patterson and Michael Ledwidge. In fact, Bennett quickly became one of my favorite characters from Patterson as he dealt with the loss of his wife while he was confronted with a case centering around terrorists in New York.

Now, Bennett is back with his grandfather, the priestly Father Seamus, the devoted nanny Mary Catherine, and his large rainbow brood of children. This time, he is being confronted by the Teacher, a serial murderer who seems more than able to take the lives of two or more people in a single day. All of the Teacher's victims are tied to the higher-end culture of the wealthy, but little seems to tie each victim together. In fact, during the early witness descriptions, the Teacher looks the same, but is dressed in entirely different outfits.

In fact, the Teacher even sends his "mission statement" to one of the city's major papers indicating that he is doing all of this to highlight the fact that the rich do not value anyone or anything around them. He has made it his responsibility to teach them a lesson.

You would think hunting down a killer in the hopes of preventing another death would be more than enough for Bennett to deal with, but it turns out that his kids are ill. They are all fighting the flu, which leaves him exhausted and brings Mary Catherine and Seamus in as backup.

This volume is a great follow up to the earlier book. It is quick-paced and full of action. It is also one of the rare books by Patterson that is a true mystery. Usually, the reader learns early on who the killer is, but the Teacher's true identity is not revealed until the final chapters. While his Alex Cross books are starting to get a little stale, Patterson and partner Ledwidge have brought forth a character more than able to replace the Washingtonian detective.