Kiss the Girls
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Kiss the Girls is a thriller novel by James Patterson. The story is about detective Alex Cross, who is trying to find his kidnapped niece Naomi, with the help of Kate McTiernan, a former victim of the kidnapper, a sexual predator who goes by the alias "Casanova." This is the second book in a series to feature Washington DC homicide detective and Dr. Alex Cross. The first book was Along Came a Spider.
[edit] Plot summary
The book begins in 1976 in Boca Raton, Florida where the boy who will become Casanova has been stalking and living inside the walls of the Pierce family home. His target was Coty, who attended high school with him. He goes into the room, tells her he loves her, and rapes her. He goes on to kill her father, mother, and little sister with whom he shares a passionate kiss beforehand. Next, in 1981 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina the man who will become The Gentleman Caller stalks a couple in the woods. The couple is having passionate sex, when he pulls the boyfriend out of the boat and kills him, then rapes and kills the girlfriend.
Present day, Alex Cross plays the piano with his children Damon and Janelle when there is a pounding at the door. A young woman named Rita, covered in blood, informs him that 11 year old Marcus Daniels has been stabbed. Cross runs to the boy and carries him to the hospital. The boy had tried to slit his own throat. Elsewhere Casanova takes a girl to the woods and ties her to a tree and leaves her to die because she has broken rules that he has set out. He wears a mask that symbolizes death. An ongoing theme is that Casanova wears a mask to symbolize his mood. The girl pleads for her life and tells Casanova she loves him. He shows no remorse and says this was her punishment and leaves her.
Back in Washington DC, Alex still waits in the hospital when his best friend and partner, John Sampson, arrives. The boy has died, which Alex takes very hard. Sampson drives Alex home. Inside his house are his sister, grandmother, and other relatives. Alex is informed that his niece, Naomi "Scootchie" Cross is missing. Sampson and Cross decide to head down to Durham, North Carolina, where Naomi was a student at Duke University. In Durham, Casanova finds his next victim, a young doctor named Kate McTiernan.
Sampson and Cross drive to North Carolina. Cross, a psychiatrist and detective, tries to make sense of what he believes was a kidnapping. They were supposed to meet 2 local detectives in Durham. Sampson and Cross wait until Detectives Nick Ruskin and Davey Sikes arrive. They immediately inform Cross and Sampson that there's been a very bad homicide and that Cross and Sampson can come with them. Ruskin informs Cross that the FBI and the DEA are involved in the case, getting answers is difficult, that eight to ten women are missing, and the FBI is in full force. Moreover, the missing women have been abducted in different states, and they’ve received notes from the man that calls himself Casanova.
Upon arriving at the scene, Cross worries the murdered woman is Scootchie, but it was the white woman from the beginning of the book. Cross talks with an FBI agent and finds that Casanova was very careful and left no evidence at the scene. Alex meets with FBI Deputy Director Ronald Burns. Burns did say he believes Casanova is a collector of extraordinary women.
Later that night, Casanova kidnaps Kate McTiernan from her own apartment.
Sampson returns to Washington DC. Alex interviews the Dean of Students and Naomi's roommate. Casanova was watching Dr. Cross. When Cross comes to his hotel room, there is an envelope that was slid under the door. Inside the envelope is a picture of one of the missing woman and a note written by Casanova.
Kate awakens in a room. She finds some of her things and a letter left for her from Casanova explaining the house rules and warning her not to break them. He tells her how much he loves her. Casanova shows up later, sedates her, and rapes her.
Cross later meets Naomi's boyfriend and decides he is not a suspect. Cross then meets with FBI Special Agent Kyle Craig. They go over Cross’ profile of the rejected women and of Casanova. Craig asks Cross to work with the FBI, and he accepts.
Casanova shows up to be with Kate once again but she fights back. She was able to see his eyes as she took off part of his mask and noticed his blue eyes. He hits her and knocks her out. When she comes to, she cries for help and discovers that there are other women locked in other rooms near her. There were at least 6 of them.
In Los Angeles a reporter named Beth Lieberman works on a story for the Los Angeles Times. Beth receives notes from a serial killer named “The Gentleman Caller”. He had just murdered a 14 year old girl, who was his youngest victim so far. He had cut off her feet. The “Gentleman” would always take a piece of his victims and he was always very brutal. He threatened to do “bonus kills" if his letters were not published. Kyle Craig meets with Beth. He was now in LA.
Casanova drugs Kate and is going to kill her, like he had killed the others. She had broken the rules when she fought back. He comes in wearing his death mask, but she fights him and gets away.
Back in North Carolina, Cross reads about ongoing FBI investigations on serial killers. He reads about the “Gentleman Caller” and one of the notes published in the LA Times mentioned a black 2nd year law student named Naomi C. Cross tried to call Beth Lieberman, but she hangs up on him thinking he is trying to write a book about the killer (Cross had written a book about the Soneji/Murphy kidnapping) and since she was writing a book also, she didn’t want to talk to him. Angry, Cross calls her editor in chief, Dan Hills, who reveals that Casanova and the Gentleman Caller are communicating as coast to coast serial killers.
In North Carolina, Kate manages to escape, running outside into a large forest. As Casanova approaches her, Kate jumps off a cliff into the river below.
Nick Ruskin calls Cross and informs him they have found Kate alive. Cross and Ruskin go see her, but she is in really bad shape and seriously hurt.
Later that night a young couple is about to make love but are interrupted by Casanova, who kills the man and kidnaps the woman.
Cross talks with a doctor at the hospital and discovers she was given the drug marinol, which leads them to believe that Casanova is a doctor or pharmacist. Alex stays in the room with Kate, as he believes she is the only hope of finding Naomi. She is going through marinol withdrawal.
Casanova can not sleep. He is still upset about Kate escaping from him. He gets up and calls his friend, the "Gentleman Caller."
At the hospital, Alex tries to hypnotize Kate, but is unsuccessful. After 2 weeks, Kate is released. Alex takes her to the woods where she was found to see if she could remember anything, but this is unsuccessful.
Casanova has his harem out in the living area of where they have been kept. He wears a festive mask, but is otherwise naked. He has Naomi play the violin for the group.
At Kate's apartment in Chapel Hill, Cross and Kate have a few drinks when Kyle arrives to inform Alex that Beth Lieberman was murdered by the Gentleman Caller, who had cut off her fingers. At her work computer she had a suspect for Casanova, a Dr. William Rudolph from Los Angeles. Kate and Alex are going with Kyle to LA.
Dr. Rudolph was attempting to pick up a woman. The FBI has him under surveillance. The woman he tried to pick up though was not interested and left with a friend. The FBI was disappointed. They follow Rudolph to his home, but nothing happened. Cross is sure he is either the Gentleman Caller or Casanova.
The next day, Kate goes on surveillance also, but with one look at Rudolph, is sure that he is not Casanova. Cross now knows for sure there are two killers and Rudolph must be The Gentleman Caller. They follow Rudolph that night. He is well dressed. They follow him for six hours, eventually turning into Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park. He had turned and Cross let him get far enough ahead. Suddenly they see his vehicle stopped. He was getting something out of the back seat. Alex keeps driving on but tells the FBI he is now on foot and heading to a cabin.
The next day, in the afternoon, they follow Rudolph to a town two miles south. A woman comes with him. That night they hear the woman scream. Everyone rushes in. Rudolph tries to escape on his SUV but Cross jumps on the vehicle as it sped away. He held on for a while but Rudolph managed to shake Cross off, and escapes.
For two days the FBI and the police search Rudolph's apartment when they find a picture of Rudolph with a Dr. Wick Sachs from Durham. On the back of the picture is a note that says "Casanova".
The Gentleman Caller is now in the area of Stoneman Lake, Arizona. He parks his car in a wooden area, takes out a gas can and walks toward a house. The house is unlocked and he goes in. A woman is making breakfast and is startled by the Gentleman. He subdues her and rapes her.
Kate was home when Alex calls her that he had been to Casanova's home. Alex needed to be sure Dr. Wick Sachs was Casanova and he broke into Sachs’ house. Since Cross was not “officially” involved in the case, he could do things the FBI and local police couldn’t do. Upon looking at the outside and inside of the house he was beginning to suspect Sachs was Casanova. Kate and Alex have dinner together that night. When they get back to Kate's apartment, they kiss passionately.
In Casanova's secret lair, the girls plan on escaping the next time Casanova has them together, but the planning is interrupted by the arriving of Dr. Rudolph, the Gentleman Caller.
Sampson arrives in Durham again. Cross shares a theory with him that the girls are being held in an underground house, built in an area that may have been part of the Underground Railroad. Sampson and Cross talk again to Dean Lowell about Sachs. Sachs was a professor at Duke. Lowell confirms Sachs was the campus skell, known as doctor dirt, but that he has been cooperative with the investigation. Lowell also lets Cross know that Sachs had been a suspect when two students were murdered in the early 80s. The FBI had interviewed Sachs and he was cleared as a suspect.
Later that afternoon Ruskin and Sikes ask Cross for help in catching Casanova, who they believe to be Sachs. That same night Casanova was on the prowl again. He was going to visit Kate again, one last time. He missed her and loved her.
As Rudolph also prowls Durham, he reminisces. Rudolph was the son of a Colonel and grew up at Fort Bragg. He was an honor student. The perfect gentleman. No one had known his true desire. He met Casanova at Duke. Casanova knew Rudolph had killed the young couple and had kept the woman's tongue as a souvenir. Casanova shares with Rudolph his own experiences and the duo form a bond that will last a lifetime. Rudolph was heading to Kate's house when he sees Cross and Sampson hanging on the porch. After Cross and Sampson leave, Kate goes to bed, and is then attacked by Casanova & the Gentleman Caller at the same time. She is seriously wounded and is taken to the hospital. Cross, Sampson, and the FBI are at her house. Cross notices that this attack was different from the first one and suspects both men worked together on this.
The next day Sachs is brought in for questioning. Cross physically attacks him but backs away. He notices that Sachs is not very physically strong. He is sure Sachs is not Casanova.
Sampson and Cross have dinner together when Cross is beeped. They are arresting Sachs. Cross calls Kyle and tells him not to. Cross tells him that Sachs is being set up by the real Casanova. Kyle Craig tells Alex that it's too late and the wheels have been set into motion. He also states that they found physical evidence at Sachs' house.
The Gentleman and Casanova have dinner with the harem. They are celebrating the police arresting Sachs. They turn on the television so the women can watch the press conference. Casanova then visits Kate at the hospital. He sits next to her and holds her hand. When Cross arrives in her room, she smiles at Cross.
Sampson and Cross head to the forest again. This time they have a hand written map given to them by Underground Railroad historian and professor at Duke. They go to the area not searched by the police or the FBI. As they walk, they hear women screaming. The two cops follow the screams and find the entrance to the underground house.
Outside Casanova and the Gentlemen had been watching Sampson and Cross all afternoon. They plan to take out Sampson first and then deal with Cross together. They regret ever separating and competing. They claim Cross could never have put this together if they had never separated.
As Cross finds Naomi but hears Sampson scream. He rushes out to see Casanova and the Gentleman, both wearing masks, on top of his partner. Sampson had a knife stuck on his back. Cross takes out his gun and fires at the men, hitting one in the shoulder. The two run and Cross follows them. Some gun fire is exchanged but for the most part they all keep running. The men make it to a nearby bar in town and steal a pick up truck and take off. Cross then takes a car and goes after them. There was a bit of traffic later down the road and the two run out of the car, running on opposite directions and firing their guns. Cross follows one of them and exchanges gunfire. Cross hits him in the chest. Cross runs to the fallen man and takes off his mask. It was Rudolph. He dies telling Cross he would never catch Casanova.
The women of the harem are all taken to the hospital. Sampson is also there and is recovering. Cross’ family also arrives from Washington DC.
At the underground house, Cross looks for clues but thinks he knows who Casanova might be. He does not share the information with Kyle Craig. He decides to go on his own stake out. He follows Davey Sikes, because he is sure that he's Casanova. He thinks Sikes was looking for a new woman to kidnap. Cross starts snooping outside a house where Sikes had gone in. Sikes saw him and the two get into a fight. The woman that Cross thought was going to kidnap was actually his mistress. The FBI had known about the affair. Craig tells Cross to go home.
Cross stays 10 more days with Kate at the hospital. He returns home for most of the summer, returning to Durham on occasions to visit Kate. One day Kyle Craig calls Cross to tell him Gary Soneji had escaped from prison.
In August, Cross and Kate go vacationing together but realize their relationship would be doomed because the two of them are too much alike.
For Casanova to get to Kate and Alex, he had to go through their FBI agents watching them. They put a flashlight on his face and upon recognizing him, they let him go through.
In the early morning, Alex jogs when he finds a dead FBI agent. His neck had been broken. Alex runs back to the house. He is ambushed as Casanova hits him in the chest with a stun gun. Cross finally sees the face of Casanova - it is Nick Ruskin. With Cross down, Ruskin heads for Kate, but Kate fights him and takes him down. Ruskin takes out his gun and is going to shoot Kate. Little by little, Cross gets up, takes out his gun and shoots Ruskin dead.
The book ends with John Sampson knocking on Cross' door telling him there's been a murder.
[edit] Trivia
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Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
- The nursery rhyme inspiring the title is "Georgie Porgie".
- The adventures of Alex Cross continue in Jack & Jill
- Like all the books featuring Alex Cross, he plays the piano to help him relax.
- Kyle Craig plays a bigger role on this book.
- There is a foreshadowing scene toward the end of the book in which Cross is worried about Kyle Craig. Also earlier too when Kyle is seen speaking to the reporter whom later meets an unexpected end.
- Casanova wears a mask to show what mood he is in.
[edit] Film adaptation
- In 1997 the novel was made into a film directed by Gary Fleder and starred Morgan Freeman as Alex Cross and Ashley Judd as Kate McTiernan.
- The adaptation of Kiss the Girls by David Klass resembles the book a lot closer than the adaptation of Along Came a Spider by Marc Moss.
- In the film adaptation Nick Ruskin is played by Cary Elwes.
- The film did not accurately portray the demographics of the North Carolina communities of Durham and Chapel Hill. Durham is depicted as a small town, including police with thick accents, better suited to more southern municipalities. By comparison, Durham is the 5th largest city (201,726) in North Carolina with African-Americans representing 43.8 per cent of the population.
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