Along Came A Spider is a 2001 American mystery film directed by Lee Tamahori. The screenplay by Marc Moss was adapted from the 1993 novel of the same title by James Patterson, but most of the key plot elements of the book were eliminated. This was the first book in Patterson's Alex Cross series, although the second one to be filmed, following Kiss the Girls in 1997.

Plot summary

After Washington, D.C. detective, forensic psychologist, and author Alex Cross loses control of a sting operation, resulting in the death of his partner, he opts to retire from the force. He finds himself drawn back to police work when Megan Rose, the daughter of a United States senator, is kidnapped from her exclusive private school by computer science teacher Gary Sonjei. Secret Service agent Jezzie Flannigan, held responsible for the breach in security, joins forces with Cross to find the missing girl.

Sonjei contacts Cross by phone and alerts him to the fact one of Megan's sneakers is in the detective's mailbox, proving he's the kidnapper. Cross deduces the man is obsessed with the 1932 Lindbergh kidnapping and hopes to become as infamous as Bruno Hauptmann by committing a new "Crime of the Century" that might be discussed by Cross in one of his true crime books.