by J.D. Robb
Part of In Death, book 8
First published 2004
A homeless man lies dead on a New York City street. No wounds mark his body except for one detail that stops Detective Eve Dallas cold. Someone has removed his heart with surgical precision, leaving behind a laser-cut hole where the organ once beat. The killer strikes again, targeting the city's most vulnerable residents with the same methodical expertise. Dallas begins tracking a predator who combines medical knowledge with calculated cruelty. But as she closes in on the murderer, her own department turns against her. An internal investigation threatens to destroy her career just when she needs all her resources to stop the killing. Dallas finds herself fighting two battles simultaneously. She must outmaneuver a killer who stays several moves ahead while defending herself against fellow officers with powerful connections. The case becomes personal when Dallas realizes the murderer views their deadly game as a test of wills. Her determination to protect the defenseless clashes with a system that seems designed to protect itself instead.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, detective
Vibes: dark, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: detective, internal-investigation
Setting: New York City
Period: 21st-century
364 pages · Paperback · Little, Brown Book Group
Content warnings: death, graphic-violence, murder