Along Came a Spider
- Published
- 4 January 1993
- Pages
- 448
- ISBN-13
- 9781787469723
- Type
- novel
About this book
"Along Came a Spider" (1993, 448 pages) launched the Alex Cross series, introducing the Washington, D.C. homicide detective and forensic psychologist -- a widowed father raising his family with grandmother Nana Mama -- and his first great villain, Gary Soneji. Its 2025 companion, "Return of the Spider," ties directly back to it, so it's still the natural starting point more than thirty books later.
Key facts about Along Came a Spider
Along Came a Spider is a novel by James Patterson. Readers have had it since 4 January 1993. It runs to 448 pages.
Our list holds 3 editions of Along Came a Spider. Since each edition has its own ISBN, search for 9781787469723 to find the main one.
Along Came a Spider is book 1 of 35 in the Alex Cross series. The series has 35 published books. As a result, this is the book to start the series with. Cross and Sampson is the latest book in the series with a full release date, out on 9 February 2026.
Additionally, James Patterson writes Women's Murder Club, Honeymoon and Michael Bennett, plus 12 more series. Those series sit on our thriller, science fiction thriller and legal thriller shelves. Meanwhile, Delusional is the latest published James Patterson book on file, from 17 August 2026.
About James Patterson
James Patterson is an American author widely regarded as one of the bestselling and most prolific novelists in publishing history, with hundreds of books credited to his name across thrillers, young-adult fiction and non-fiction. See every James Patterson book in order.
Its place in Alex Cross
Along Came a Spider is book 1 in the Alex Cross series. It is followed by Kiss the Girls. See the full Alex Cross reading order.
Dr. Alex Cross is a Washington, D.C. homicide detective and forensic psychologist — a widowed father raising his family in Southeast D.C. with the help of his indomitable grandmother, Nana Mama. That home life is the series' anchor, because everything else in Cross's world is chaos: James Patterson has spent three decades throwing history's most theatrical serial killers and criminal masterminds at him, from Gary Soneji in Along Came a Spider to Kyle Craig, the Mastermind, whose vendetta spans many books. The…
Editions
- edition · unknown publisher · — · ISBN 9780736655248
- edition · unknown publisher · — · ISBN 9782724279665
- edition · unknown publisher · — · ISBN 9780446364195