New York Times Bestseller
In this relaunch of the electrifying, landmark #1 bestselling
thriller series, chief medical examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta hunts those
responsible for two wildly divergent and chilling murders.
Forensic pathologist Dr. Kay Scarpetta has come almost full circle,
returning to Virginia, the state where she launched her storied career,
as the chief medical examiner. Finding herself the new girl in town once
again after being away for many years, she's inherited both an
overbearing secretary and a legacy of neglect and potential corruption.
She and her husband, Benton Wesley, now a forensic psychologist with the
U.S. Secret Service, have relocated to Old Town Alexandria, where she's
headquartered five miles from the Pentagon in a post-pandemic world
that's been torn apart by civil and political unrest. After just weeks
on the job, she's called to a scene by railroad tracks--a woman's body
has been shockingly displayed, her throat cut down to the spine--and as
Scarpetta begins to follow the trail, it leads unnervingly close to her
own historic neighborhood.
At the same time, a catastrophe occurs in a top secret labo-ratory in
outer space, endangering at least two scientists aboard. Appointed to
the highly classified Doomsday Commission that specializes in sensitive
national security cases, Scarpetta is summoned to the White House and
tasked with finding out exactly what happened. But even as she remotely
works the first potential crime scene in space, an apparent serial
killer strikes again very close to home.
This latest novel in the groundbreaking Kay Scarpetta series captivates
readers with the shocking twists, high-wire tension, and forensic detail
that Patricia Cornwell is famous for, proving once again why she's the
world's #1 bestselling crime writer.