Scarpetta

From America's #1 bestselling crime writer comes the extraordinary new KayScarpetta novel. Leaving behind her private forensic pathology practice inCharleston, South Carolina, Kay Scarpetta accepts an assignment in NewYork City, where the NYPD has asked her to examine an injured man onBellevue Hospital's psychiatric prison ward. The handcuffed and chainedpatient, Oscar Bane, has specifically asked for her, and when sheliterally has her gloved hands on him, he begins to talk—and thestory he has to tell turns out to be one of the most bizarre she has everheard. The injuries, he says, were sustained in the course of a murder .. . that he did not commit. Is Bane a criminally insane stalker who hasfixed on Scarpetta? Or is his paranoid tale true, and it is he who isbeing spied on, followed and stalked by the actual killer? The one thingScarpetta knows for certain is that a woman has been tortured andmurdered—and more violent deaths will follow. Gradually, aninexplicable and horrifying truth emerges: Whoever is committing thecrimes knows where his prey is at all times. Is it a person, a government?And what is the connection between the victims? In the days that follow,Scarpetta; her forensic psychologist husband, Benton Wesley; and herniece, Lucy, who has recently formed her own forensic computerinvestigation firm in New York, will undertake a harrowing chase throughcyberspace and the all-too-real streets of the city—an odyssey thatwill take them at once to places they never knew, and much, much too closeto home. Throughout, Cornwell delivers shocking twists and turns, and thekind of cutting-edge technology that only she can provide. Once again, sheproves her exceptional ability to entertain and enthrall.