Alex Cross is a crime thriller novel series created by American writer, James Patterson (b. 1947).
There are more than 30 novels in the series – which began in 1993 - and the protagonist is an African American detective who was raised in the kinship care of his grandmother.
Alex Cross was born in Winston-Salem in North Carolina. His mother died when he was 9 and his father a year later. After his father died, Alex was sent to live with his grandmother in Washington, DC. Nana Mama, as she is known, was an English teacher.
Alex Cross has a PhD in Psychology from Johns Hopkins University. He has worked for the Washington DC Police Department and for the FB.

In the 18th novel of the Alex Cross series, Kill Alex Cross, James Patterson adds an additional character to the Cross family. Nana Mama – the grandmother who raised Alex Cross and who now lives with Alex and his family – is robbed by a homeless girl living on the streets. Ava is taken in by Nana Mama and Bree, Alex’s wife, and they agree to adopt the girl. Later, in Alex Cross, Run, Ava is sent into foster care because of doing drugs at home. At the end of that novel Ava is (apparently) killed by the last in a long line of Alex’s nemeses. Ava returns to the series in 19th novel, Merry Christmas.