Point of View

The point of view of this novel fluctuates between first person and third person. As with most Cross novels, Alex's narration is first person, giving the reader an intimate connection to the detective and his investigation. Other characters are usually seen through the third person, viewed through the eyes of the narrator but given the distance of the third person pronoun. However, in this novel, Thomas Pierce is also given the intimacy of the first person point of view during his investigation into the attack on the Cross family.

This point of view works not only because the first person gives a sense of intimacy to the reader between them and Cross, but in this novel it also covers up the fact that Thomas Pierce is under investigation by Cross and the FBI in the Mr. Smith case. If Pierce were to be viewed through the...