Cross, on Prime Video

If the police get defunded, Alex Cross will be out of a job. He is keenly aware of that fact. Yet, he is also hyper-conscious of expectations placed on him, for reasons of identity politics. In fact, resentment of the police often makes his job much harder during this case. The implications could be tragic as the DC detective hunts a serial killer holding a woman captive in creator Ben Watkins’ eight-episode Cross, obviously based on James Patterson’s novels, which premieres tomorrow on Prime Video.

When a defund-the-police activist like Emir Goodspeed turns up dead, it becomes a media nightmare for politically conscious Chief Anderson. She wants Cross to sell the press on her premature verdict of drug overdose. Of course, Cross knows better. He just cannot believe the reformed Muslim addict relapsed with hard drugs, shaved his head, and then feasted on pork chops for a final meal.

Naturally, Goodspeed’s family is more than skeptical, but Cross becomes the focus of their anger and distrust. As a result, they will withhold a key piece of evidence that Cross needs. For him, it is not just about solving Goodspeed’s murder. He also quickly concludes the culprit is a serial killer they dub the “Fanboy,” who just abducted his latest victim. That would be Shannon Witmer, who unfortunately bears a very vague resemblance to one of history’s most notorious serial killers.

Frankly, Cross will key-in on his prime suspect relatively early, but he is no drifter. This time Cross must play a cat-and-mouse game with one of Washington’s most influential power-brokers. The Fanboy probably has sources within the DC police department, so Cross can only trust his closest associates, including his partner and best friend John Sampson (one of the few characters retained from the books, besides Cross’s family) and his FBI contact Kayla Craig. For extra added pressure, someone from Cross’s past has also been terrorizing the Crosses. Given the clues left behind, he reasonably concludes the stalker was involved in the unsolved murder of his wife Maria several years ago.

Unlike the Reacher series, Cross does not correlate to a specific Patterson novel, which must greatly annoy his publisher. There might be a few similarities with the like-titled Cross, but the crimes and perps are entirely different.

Still, Ryan Eggold portrays the Fanboy with such creepy viciousness, he should satisfy fans of early vintage Patterson, especially Kiss the Girls (the book more than the movie). Johnny Ray Gil also adds impressively villainous sleaze, as Bobby Trey, a flamboyant gangster, who is mixed up with the Fanboy. Watkins and the battery of co-writers also take the stalker subplot in an unexpected direction, chillingly played by the relevant cast-members (they telegraph the revelation early in the final episode, but before that, it is rather unexpected).

Aldis Hodge broods and seethes hard as Cross. He definitely has serious screen presence, but both Isaiah Mustafa and Alona Tal frequently upstage him, with their energy and charisma playing Sampson and Craig. Frankly, they are so good, you can envision them in a spin-off series, even though Craig is original to the Prime series.

Arguably, some of the edgiest moments come from watching Watkins and the other writers and directors trying to walk a tightrope between the cops and BLM critics. Poor Cross gets sullied a bit as a result. The series regularly trumpets its sensitivity, but Cross could still run afoul of the activist industry for suggesting one unfortunate incident should not define a cop like Cross. Maybe Watkins and company can skate through unscathed, but there are points where you can practically see them sweating. Still, rational viewers (if there are any left) should appreciate the attempt at evenhandedness.

There are thrills and chills in Cross, which Patterson readers will expect. Some of the politically-charged dialogue gets rather heavy-handed, but it could have been a lot worse. The chili and hotdogs at Ben’s Chili Bowl, where Cross and Sampson often hang, also look delish, so Cross will probably make it even harder for locals to get in and out without tripping over tourists. Recommended as a nicely paced and frequently tense [original, noncanonical] Alex Cross mystery, Cross starts streaming tomorrow (11/14) on Prime Video.