In the Ali Cross mystery series, the protagonist’s father is Alex Cross, a PhD psychologist who works for the Washington DC police department. Alex is a profiler who helps solve crimes by developing a psychological model of the perpetrator. Alex’s cases usually involve extremely dangerous serial killers. Ali admires his father and wants to follow in his footsteps. The first book in the Ali Cross series presents the boy with a mystery he feels compelled to solve, the disappearance of his best friend, Gabe Qualls. Dr. Cross lends a hand.

Father and son are African American. Some critics have questioned the books because author James Patterson is white. Patterson defends his fictional protagonists: “I grew up in a small town that was heavily Black; I had a lot of Black kids as my friends” (Allfree, Claire. “James Patterson: ‘Am I entitled to write a Black character? Sure!’“ Gulf News, 15 Dec. 2021). Some Alex Cross books have been adapted for film. When producers first expressed interest, they wanted to change Cross to a white man, but Patterson refused (Shaw, AR. “James Patterson on Tyler Perry: ‘Hollywood Wanted to Change Alex Cross to a White Guy.