Blackjack: A Cross Novel (Cross Series) - Softcover

There are places in America where the only reason for living is the hope of escape.

"Genre" is a ghetto, too.

Cross and crew originated in a series of short stories. I wanted to crank "Family of Choice"--the hallmark of my writing and my life--up another notch. To show how the childhood experiences of some--of us--can crystallize into an all-pervasive sense that they are not, and never will be, members of society. They don't turn into "outlaws"; nothing so romantic as that. "Outcasts" is closer, but it still doesn't convey the reality. For Cross and his crew, America is not their country. They have no country. The hate "them" all. They are together, bonded in blood, because there was no other place to go.

I needed an amoral protagonist, the better to illuminate the amorality of the world around him. Cross is a mercenary, but his crew is no A-Team. A man without a country, Cross is also a man without boundaries. He has no higher sense of honor, no "code," no loyalty to anything but "getting it done." A remorseless assassin, Cross's trademark is working the middle, betraying both the contractee and the victim. Hence his name. Even when confronted with the worst evil on this planet, Cross is as detached as an exterminator. And although he is a master tactician, his core is utter simplicity: he is a man for hire ... any other job description is meaningless.

TO:  UNIT 3 Chicago
FROM: DIRECTOR
IMPORTANCE: Critical
 
SUBJECT:  Specimen Retrieval
 
TARGET: Shadowy hunter-killer teams, ID'ed via signature kills worldwide. Identifiable only by skull-spine removal from victims. No witnesses, no forensics, no particular race targeted. On rare occasions, scraps of what appear to be playing cards found at murder sites.
 
OBJECTIVE: Locate and capture any member of such teams. MUST be taken alive for study and observation.
 
AUTHORIZATION APPROVED FOR USE OF OUTSIDE CONTRACTOR: Individual ID'ed only as "Cross" and his team. A pure mercenary outfit, well known throughout criminal underworld--no inside informants available. Ruthless, undeterred by risk, rumored never to fail, but UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES to be trusted. No known political or social objective, but has proven treacherous when retained by government in the past.
 
UPDATE: Cross and his team claim to have identified a pattern to the signature-kills, and believe they can predict a forthcoming strike. They are prepared to personally confront-and-capture, but financial arrangement alone not sufficient. What you describe as a "Get Out of Jail Free" card is hereby APPROVED.