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Sander Homicide (Exposition)
In the beginning of the novel we meet Alex Cross, the main character who is a homicide detective. We go on to the murder scene of the Sander Family with Detective Cross in the ghettos of Washington DC. This certain homicide is very significant to Alex and he really wants to solve the case. -
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Along Came A Spider
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Maggie Dunne and Michael Goldberg (Exposition)
Maggie Dunne is a nine year old girl who is the daughter of the famous actress Katherine Rose. Michael Goldberg is the son of the secretary of the treasury. Both kids go to the school of Washington Day in Georgetown and want nothing more than to just fit in. Because of their parents high status its hard for them to feel normal so the kids do things to blend in, for example: "Maggie Rose tried to disappear into the woodwork alot" (Patterson20). -
Kidnapping of the kids (Rising Action)
It was just another school day for the kids when one of their favorite teachers, Mr.Soneji, came in to class to tell the kids that something has come up and that the kids must leave the school. The kids trusted Mr. Soneji so they believed him and came along, little did they know they were being taken. Michael and Maggie were drugged and taken to an abandoned farmhouse and buried while still alive. -
Case Switch (Rising Action)
As Alex Cross is trying to crack the case of the Sander homicide the FBI switched Cross and his partner Sampson to the kidnapping case. Alex was very upset about it because no one cared when the black family was murdered but when two white children were kidnapped everyone has to be on board and turn their backs on the Sander's murder. When on scene of the school at the kidnapping case we are introduced to Jezzie Flannagen, the supervisor of the Secret Service. -
Overdose(Rising Action)
As Soneji's master plan is all playing out everything was going perfect until...an accident occured. Michael Goldberg was born with a heart murmur and when Gary Soneji gave both of the kids more drugs he was unaware, resulting in the death of Michael by an overdose. His body was found in a river with multiple broken bones and bruises, the injuries occured after he died. Maggie is still alive. -
Let's take a trip to Disney!
As a reward for the kids Gary Soneji asks for ransom money and for Alex Cross to deliver the money to Disney World without and FBI backup or any help, This was the message exactly: "Disney World, Orlando--The Magic Kingdom. Park at Pluto 24. Detective Cross will deliver the ransom. Alone" (Patterson119). Cross was confused why he was the one to deliver to ransom and scared that he had to do it alone. He needed to save Maggie Rose. Cross gets kidnapped and taken on a plane and the money isstolen -
Pink Shoes Found in two places(Rising Action)
When the farmhouse is finally located where the kids were buried, the crime scene is investigated. Where is Maggie? The two things that were found was a casket for a small body, that was empty, and a pink sneaker. The question was where was the second shoe? Soon after this happened Gary Continued on his murder spree by killing a women named Vivian Kim and left the second pink shoe on the scene to connect the murder with the kidnapping of Maggie Rose. -
Gary confusion (Rising Action)
As the plot line starts to die down the reoccuring question is where is Gary Soneji now? As the novel continues we get introduced to a charcter whose name is Gary Murphy, a man who is married and has a daughter. Just a regular man who hates his job. When the reading continues we come to find out that Gary has a double identity mixed between Gary Soneji and Gary Murphy. And the Gary Murphy has no clue of the Gary Soneji that takes over his body. -
Gary caught at McDonald's(Rising Action)
Gary Murphy starts feeling extreme anxiety and his personalities switch through this trigger. He transforms from Murphy to Soneji. To release this anxiety Soneji goes to a McDonald's and brings a gun and ends up shooting up the place and killing a police officer. The FBI arrive shortly on scene and Alex Cross convinces Soneji to leave the hostages inside and then Soneji is captured and put into prison for the crimanally insane. -
Hypnosis/Falling For Jezzie(RisingAction)
When Gary is imprisoned Alex goes into see him and tries to put him under hypnosis to see if they can find the location of Maggie Rose. In the middle of the hypnosis Gary has a breakdown and goes into extreme anger. As the novel progresses the chemistry between Alex Cross and Jezzie start to heat up, Alex thinks he might be in love. -
Trial/Maggie Update(Rising Action)
Gary Soneji is brought to trial and found guilty. At this point it has been a year since the kidnapping and everyone seems to be giving up hopes except for Alex Cross, a discovery comes up at someone else took Maggie Rose after Gary had kidnapped her.. so the question is where is Maggie? -
Cross and Jezzie found/lead on culprits(RisingAction)
As Alex and Jezzie are falling in love, one night they are spotted together by the press and it is leaked everywhere and it looks bad. As everything is happening Alex finds leads on two police men that have been suspicious and he believes they have something to do with the relocating of Maggie. When Cross goes into the Secret Service they confirm it but say they do not have enough evidence to bring the news out yet because they think the two men have a leader..who is it? -
Jezzie is Caught(RisingAction)
The Secret Service deliver the shocking news to Cross that they believe Jezzie is in charge of the two police men involved and that her and one of the men have been lovers for years. This is when Alex Cross gets mad and feels betrayed, he decides not to talk to her right away about it though and they end up going on a vacation together, like old times ,where he corners her and tricks her into giving him information on the location of Maggie, since she was the one who relocated her. -
Gary Attack On Cross(RisingAction)
In between all the madness somehow Gary escapes from prison by minipulating a gaurd and then killing him. The first thing he does is try to murder Cross and his family as soon as cross gets home from vacation. Cross fights him off and gets badly injured but keeps fighting on and Gary runs off. Gary then makes a huge deal by holding two young kids hostage teo blocks away from Washington DC demanding to see the president or he will kill the childfren, somehow we got Soneji imprisoned again. -
Maggie Rose is saved(Climax)
The location is given to where Maggie Rose is and that is in Uyani in the Andes Mountains. At the moment Maggie and her parents are reunited Alex Cross knew that was why he had not given up on it and was so driven to save the little girl's life. -
Death Row(FallingAction/Resolution)
After Maggie is home safely with her family Jezzie and Gary are both imprisoned. Jezzie is put on death row. Gary is sentenced to a lifetime of prison. The book ends by Jezzie dying and Cross walking to his car to find a mysterious note that says:"Did she sob, and whine, and beg for forgiveness before they pricked her? Did she shed a tear? Remember me to the family. I want to be remember"(Patterson501). Alex knows he is up to something but we will never know. The story ends there.
