John Sampson (character)


John Sampson is a fictional character in the mystery novel series Alex Cross and is one of the main characters.

Character information

Character background

John A. Sampson met African-American Alex Cross and at the age of 10 they became best friends. When both of Sampson's parents died and/or left him he was practically raised by Alex's grandmother, Nana Mama since Alex's parents were both dead too, which is the reason he moved to Washington, D.C. in the books. They are described as having lots of fun, stealing, etc. during their childhood in some of the books, which would annoy Nana Mama who would in turn lecture or ground Cross. After graduating from high school, he enlisted in the United States Army for four years of duty. He had a tour in Vietnam and made friends with his drill sergeant who was later killed in Four Blind Mice and goes looking for the killer along with Alex Cross, who became a Washington police officer. When returning to D.C., he also works for the Metropolitan Police Department with Cross, until Alex joins the FBI.

Character overview

Eventually, he and Cross join the police force, work for/with the FBI, and Metropolitan Police Department in the newest books. He is the partner of Cross as well; they are cops and detectives. Sampson first appears in the book Along Came a Spider in which he and Cross go on the case to solve a kidnapping of famous actress' daughter. He appears in 19 of the 20 books in the series. He briefly appears in Kiss the Girls. He also helps Cross in Jack & Jill when murders are committed near Cross' son Damon's elementary school, Truth. In Pop Goes the Weasel he reveals to Cross that he had been in love with Nina Childs, an African-American nurse, who is killed early in the book, thus he vows to get vengeance. Cross later finds the killer, Geoffrey Shafer, and arrests him. However, Shafer, in court, wins and the case is closed, therefore letting him get the chance to kill his own wife and escaping Cross. He returns in London Bridges and is killed by Cross, avenging Nina's death for Sampson.
In the earlier books, he appears but like in "cameos", or small roles and gains a larger role throughout the books. In Cross he officially gains a large role helping Cross capture Michael Sullivan "The Butcher" who may have killed Alex's wife, Maria, years ago. In the end, Sullivan is killed by Alex and Sampson reveals he had killed Maria's murderer, Jimmy Hats Galati long ago, but couldn't find it in himself to tell this to Cross. In Double Cross he helps Cross and his new love interest, Brianna "Bree" Stone, but at the end is kidnapped. Cross rescues his partner, and with the help of Bree kills and stops the killers known as DCAK. In the books, the main antagonist is Gary Soneji or Kyle Craig "The Mastermind". Kyle Craig is a friend of Cross and Sampson in the beginning of the series, but in Roses Are Red he is a murder known as the Mastermind. It is not until the end of Violets Are Blue that he is arrested by Cross himself.
In the novel, Four Blind Mice, John meets a woman named Billie, whose husband was framed for murder and killed by lethal injection. While investigating her, John ends up falling in love with her, while at the same time not knowing it. Even after he gets what he needs from her, John keeps seeing her again. After a few dozen times, John and Billie finally admit their love for each other and decide to start a relationship. John, who has never slept with any woman before, sleeps with Billie and finds himself at peace for the very first time with her. He proposes to her and the two get married at the end of the book. In London Bridges, John reveals that Billie is pregnant and that he is going to be a father, which excites him. Billie and his daughter make several appearances throughout the series.
Sampson continues to support Alex in I, Alex Cross, where Nana Mama has a heart attack. He is considered family by Cross and his family. Cross Country shows him helping Alex and Bree in a murder committed by children under the supervision of a killer known as the "Tiger". In Cross Fire he continues to be Cross' bestfriend/partner/helper/sidekick and all. He is also Cross' best man when Cross remarries after the death of his wife, Maria Cross.

Appearances in series

Note: Sampson has appeared in 20 of the 26 books of the series so far and 2 out of 3 of the Cross films.
Throughout the books, it is explained Sampson has had many girlfriends, but has not been able to marry anyone for a few reasons.
Sampson briefly appeared played by Bill Nunn in the first Alex Cross film ever made – Kiss the Girls. In the movie, John is the one who tells Alex of Naomi's disappearance and is seen helping Alex comfort his family. While he tries to tell Alex to leave Naomi's disappearance to the police in North Carolina, Alex declines and decides to go investigate. Later on, Alex and Sampson team up in Los Angeles, doing a unofficial police stakeout on a suspect named Dr. Rudolph, along with the help of Kate McTiernan and fellow detective, Henry Castillo. They manage to catch Rudolph in the act of raping a young girl and move in to capture him. However, Rudolph escapes and kills Henry, also injuring Alex along the way as well. In order to make sure that Alex and Kate are safe, John takes full responsibility for the incident and is blamed by the authorities for what happened. While he doesn't make any more appearances, his sacrifice is not in vain as Alex manages to catch Rudolph and the real Casanova, also rescuing Naomi and many other captive girls too. In this movie, John Sampson's introduction and appearance is more faithful to the book and series. It is also the only movie that John Sampson is seen in.
In the 2012 film Alex Cross, he was portrayed by actor Edward Burns and had a substantial larger role than in Kiss the Girls. However, Sampson's name in the film was changed to "Tommy Kane". Another notable difference, is that the Alex Cross movie takes place in Detroit, not Washington, D.C. and Kane does not kill Maria Cross' killer, and Michael Sullivan "the Butcher" is actually Maria's murderer.
In the film, Kane and Alex are partners, along with a new trainee named Monica Ashe. In the film, both Kane and Monica have a relationship, sexually in nature. After Alex discovers the affair, he and Tom talk about how having a relationship like that while being partners is dangerous and Alex gives him the ultimatum to either end the relationship or one of them walks from the unit. Tom later learns that Alex is taking a job with the FBI, due to his wife being pregnant with their third child. While he happy for news of their new baby, Tom also is sadden to the fact that Alex will be moving to Washington D.C., which will force them to go their separate ways. Alex and Tom investigate a recent murder, who they name "Picasso". After facing off against Picasso and saving his next victim, the killer targets Tom, Alex and Monica for standing up to him. Monica and Alex's wife, Maria, are killed by Picasso, causing them both to go after him for revenge. They manage to find him by using video cameras to discover his licenses plate number and crash into his car as he tries to escape. With Tom injured, Alex goes after Picasso alone and kills him by making him fall to his death, avenging both his wife and Kane's girlfriend. Just as Alex was about to suffer the same fate as Picasso, Kane shows up at the last minute and saves him. After they manage to frame Picasso's employer Giles Mercier, who escaped to Indonesia, by having cocaine put in his house, which he is condemned by firing squad. Having fully avenged Monica's death, Kane decides to join the FBI, so that he could remain close to Alex and maybe work with him again someday.
A sequel based on Double Cross is currently in the works. A deal is being finalized by Perry and Patterson. So far it is unconfirmed whether or not if Burns will return to play Kane again, however, Perry has been confirmed to reprise his role as Cross. Sampson's "new" name – Tommy Kane – probably reflects an original character that takes character traits and inspiration from Sampson. This has not been confirmed.