Discover the classic thriller that launched the #1 detective series of the past twenty-five years, now one of PBS’s “100 Great American Reads”
Alex Cross is a homicide detective with a Ph.D. in psychology. He works and lives in the ghettos of D. C. and looks like Muhammad Ali in his prime. He’s a tough guy from a tough part of town who wears Harris Tweed jackets and likes to relax by banging out Gershwin tunes on his baby grand piano. But he also has two adorable kids of his own, and they are his own special vulnerabilities.
Jezzie Flanagan is the first woman ever to hold the highly sensitive job as supervisor of the Secret Service in Washington. Blond, mysterious, seductive, she’s got an outer shell that’s as tough as it is beautiful. She rides her black BMW motorcycle at speeds of no less than 100 mph. What is she running from? What is her secret? Alex Cross and Jezzie Flanagan are about to have a forbidden love affair-at the worst possible time for both of them. Because Gary Soneji, who wants to commit the “crime of the century,” is playing at the top of his game. Soneji has outsmarted the FBI, the Secret Service, and the police. Who will be his next victim?
Gary Soneji is every parent’s worst nightmare. He has become Alex Cross’s nightmare. And now, reader, he’s about to become yours.
Read: March 19, 2026 – March 27, 2026
I’m going to start by saying that I loved Taye Diggs’ narration of this audiobook. A pleasure to listen to through and through. I also love the Cross show on Amazon Prime. Again, Aldis Hodge is a national acting treasure. Now to the actual content of the book.
Along Came a Spider follows homicide Detective Alex Cross, who has a PhD in psychology, as he works to solve two main cases: murders in his area (specifically of Black people/families), and the kidnappings of two children from their school. He’s also dealing with Gary Soneji, the villain of the story and a psychopath through and through. This book was sufficiently thrilling. The shorter chapters made it easy for me to remember what was going on, especially because it was an audiobook. I tend to get distracted if the narrator isn’t engaging enough (but that wasn’t an issue with Taye). I also appreciated Cross’ relationship with Samson, Nana Mama, and his kids. Those interactions were truly the highlight of my reading. As much as I dislike villain characters, I thought Soneji was portrayed pretty decently and scarily enough to actually believe he was capable of the murders and kidnappings. And Taye’s voice when he read Soneji’s parts gave me chills.
I thought the pacing felt a little off throughout the story. For example, they find out who the projects killer is at the 37% mark, and I found myself wondering how they were going to fill out the rest of the story. I actually wrote in my journal, “like there’s so much book left. is he gonna kill a thousand more people?” lol. Then, they managed to capture Soneji and throw him in prison but that’s just the 78% mark and there were still over 2 hours left in the audiobook. I mean, the story went on but I think there might have been some parts that could have cut out without affecting the storyline (I’m looking at you, Jezzie Flanagan romance).
Speaking of Jezzie, I will admit that I had that reveal spoiled for me before I got to it. Even so, it felt almost underwhelming? I get that it was intended to be painful because we should have grown attached to Cross and Jezzie but if I’m being completely honest, I didn’t care much for their relationship to begin with. I was on Nana Mama’s side from the start. I also felt like I didn’t understand what her motivations were, and that created a gaping plot hole for me.
All in all, I thought it was a pretty standard crime thriller similar to the likes of Jack Reacher (another series I like to watch). Recommended for anyone interested in crime thrillers, detective work, and psychopath villains with a tragic backstory (I still didn’t feel sympathy for him).
Final Rating – 3.75/5 (okay read, but I have some notes and gripes)
* Taye increased the rating of this book by .75 stars