Detective Alex Cross is ripped away from his family on Christmas Eve - and that's nothing compared to what awaits him on Christmas Day

On the night before Christmas, Detective Alex Cross is at home celebrating with his family. But when Cross's phone rings, he knows that this won't be a merry Christmas.

A father has taken his children and ex-wife hostage. Armed to the teeth and high on crystal meth, the man is dangerously unstable. The lives of everyone in that house are hanging by a thread.

As this suburban nightmare is unfolding, another far greater threat is approaching. It will be a terrorist attack on a scale never before seen in Washington, DC, and when nobody expects it.