Part of Kay Scarpetta, book 16
First published 2008
Kay Scarpetta leaves her Charleston practice to take on a puzzling case in New York City. The NYPD wants her to examine Oscar Bane, a injured man confined to Bellevue Hospital's psychiatric prison ward. Bane has specifically requested Scarpetta, and when she begins her examination, he tells her an outlandish story. His injuries came from a murder scene, he claims, but he insists he's innocent. Bane says someone is stalking him, not the other way around. Scarpetta discovers that a woman has indeed been tortured and killed, with more deaths to follow. The killer seems to track victims with uncanny precision, knowing their exact locations at all times. Working with her husband Benton Wesley and her niece Lucy, who runs a computer forensics firm, Scarpetta pursues the truth through New York's digital networks and dangerous streets. The investigation forces them into unfamiliar territory while bringing threats dangerously close to their own lives.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, detective
Vibes: dark, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Charleston, New York City, Bellevue Hospital
Period: Contemporary
500 pages · Hardcover · Putnam Adult
Content warnings: violence