Part of Lincoln Rhyme, book 11
First published 2014
A killer prowls the underground tunnels of New York City with a modified tattoo gun filled with poison. He etches cryptic messages into his victims' skin before they die in agony. Lincoln Rhyme, the renowned forensic investigator, recognizes the pattern. This murderer draws inspiration from the Bone Collector, the serial killer who once terrorized the city over a decade earlier. Rhyme teams with detective Amelia Sachs and the NYPD to decode the tattoos' hidden meanings. They race to identify the next target while studying the killer's own distinctive ink: a centipede with fangs and a woman's face. Each clue leads deeper into a web that connects to Rhyme's past cases. The investigation becomes personal as Rhyme realizes this isn't just about the victims. The killer has unfinished business that reaches back through the years to settle old scores.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, detective
Vibes: dark, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: cat-and-mouse, personal-vendetta
Setting: New York City
Period: 21st-century
448 pages · Kindle Edition · Grand Central Publishing
Content warnings: graphic-violence, murder