Kyle Craig is a fictional character and antagonist in James Patterson's series of novels featuring Washington, D.C. detective Alex Cross.
However, in the 2000 novel Roses Are Red, Craig is revealed to be a criminal who calls himself "The Mastermind", having organized a series of brutal bank robberies and murders.
It is revealed that while at Duke University, he had met two killers Casanova and The Gentleman Caller, who later become the villains in Kiss the Girls, and started killing along with them before heading off on his own.
By the novel Roses Are Red, a new serial killer called the "Mastermind" is causing trouble with a series of bank robberies and murders, including that of Alex's girlfriend and partner, FBI agent Betsey Cavalierre.
Four years later, in Double Cross, Kyle escapes prison with the help of his lawyer and travels across the Eastern United States and to Paris, enjoying his newfound freedom.
Alex wounds and is about to capture him when Craig, unable to escape and not wanting to go back to prison, kills himself by shooting a gas tank.
However, when Kyle was revealed to be the "Mastermind", a serial killer who was behind a series of bank robberies, including the murder of Alex's girlfriend, FBI agent Betsey Cavalierre, all of which happened in Roses Are Red and Violets Are Blue.
However, by the time Kyle is revealed to be the killer, John seemed to have come to view him as an enemy and whatever friendship existed between them faded away.
He helps Alex Cross, John Sampson, and several other detectives search for Gary Soneji, to which they finally capture him at a McDonald's.
Kyle Craig returns for a much bigger role in the second novel, he helps lead an investigation against a serial killer and kidnapper, Casanova.
He provides resources for Alex, which helps lead to another serial killer by the name of The Gentleman Caller, who stalks people on the Western Coast of California.
Kyle is investigating a serial killer named Mr. Smith, who has been killing throughout the Eastern United States and Western Europe.
Kyle's role is once again small, but he does appear a few times and even helps Alex try to find his fiancée, Christine Johnson, who was kidnapped by a serial killer named Geoffrey Shafer.
At the beginning of the 2000 novel Roses Are Red, Craig, using the alias "The Mastermind", formulates the robbery of a Citibank with two associates, Errol and Brianne Parker.
This new crew robs a First Union bank and, same as before, holds the manager's family hostage, only this time Mr. Red and Mr. White produce a videotape to prove they are not bluffing.
When he hears an alert on a police scanner regarding the robbery, Mr. Blue kills the bank's staff; the First Union manager's family is later released.
Craig hires five corrupt NYPD narcotics detectives to take part in his next crime, in which they commandeer a Washington tour bus carrying the wives of several insurance executives and demand a ransom of $5 million in uncut diamonds; the transfer is a success and the hostages are released.
Cross, who was romantically involved with Cavalierre, swears to kill the Mastermind—unaware that Craig is listening and secretly ecstatic over the emotional turmoil he has caused.
In the wake of Cavalierre's murder, Craig engages in a covert cat-and-mouse game with Cross, threatening his family and friends as the Mastermind.
After Daniel and Charles are mysteriously killed during a Halloween party, Cross receives another taunting call from the Mastermind; this time, he notices Craig watching him intently.
When Hughes returns to San Francisco and is kidnapped by the cult, Cross and a seemingly detached Craig stake out the animal preserve where it is based.
Calling FBI director Ronald Burns, Cross learns about the Bureau's suspicions of Craig in both the Cavalierre and Lieberman murders.
When Craig comes to, Cross goads him into making a confession, which is recorded on his answering machine after he called it from his cell phone.
Alex Cross comes to him for help, which Craig provides, and gives the name of the criminal mastermind, The Wolf, but the target is revealed to be a decoy.
Imprisoned at the supermax prison ADX Florence, Craig hatches an elaborate escape plan with his loyal attorney, Mason Wainwright.
While Craig and Wainwright are having one of their regular meetings in ADX Florence—which are not monitored due to attorney–client privilege—the two men swap clothes and give each other prosthetic masks bearing their likenesses.
Craig leaves Paris for Washington, where he murders Nina Wolff, the judge who presided over his trial and sentenced him to death.
The presence of Kyle Craig is felt at the end of the book, he makes a call to Alex, who has finished up a case on The Tiger and warns him that he will be coming after him soon.
Despite making several threatening phone calls to Cross, Craig doesn't return until a few years after the DCAK case.
Kyle kills FBI agent, Max Siegel, assumes his identity and augments his own appearance through plastic surgery.