Kiss the Girls

Watch the movie adaptation of Kiss the Girls. What changes in the film? How is the motif of twinning represented?

Analyze the relationship between Cross and Kate. How are they “partners in crime,” romantic partners, and “best friends”? Is a reunion foreshadowed between them?

As Cross is about to kill Detective Sikes, he declares, “This time it was personal” (738). What makes Cross’s relationship to the case personal? How does Naomi give Cross extra motivation to capture Casanova?

There are many books in the Alex Cross Series. Read another Cross book and discuss the similarities and differences. Are there recurring themes or identifiable narrative patterns?

The story includes a number of other authors, including Raymond Chandler and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Read one of their novels or stories and compare it to Kiss the Girls. For example, Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby (1925) has links to toxic masculinity and the luridness in US culture.

Compare and contrast Casanova and the Gentleman Caller. Cross labels their dynamic “twinning.” How are they like twins? What brings them together, and what distinguishes them? Who’s the leader and who’s the follower?

The novel features a lot of music. Note the songs and musicians in the story and talk about how they contribute to the fraught themes and traumatic atmosphere.

Why does Patterson title his novel Kiss the Girls? Perform a close reading of its nursery rhyme namesake and discuss its relevance to the novel. How does it work alongside the Fitzgerald quote?