Steve

Anonymity. Trust. Professionalism. In his world, Jonathan Quinn has a few rules. He'll get rid of bodies that have to disappear; nothing ever gets traced back to him. But when Quinn is called to a busy Los Angeles port where a shipping container has just come in from the sea, it's clear his rules have been violated. Inside the crate is a dead man - a man who once saved Quinn's life.

Moving north to wintry Maine, King and Slater get three days of rest before they’re barreling straight back to Boston with their hearts in their throats. Something they left behind has blown up in their faces, and suddenly they’re vulnerable, exposed. It’s all different now; the game has changed. In the shocking aftermath, it’s on them to pick up the pieces, and before long it dawns on them that they’ll need to make a choice. They’re caught between a rock and a hard place. To keep their families safe, they’ll need to do what they swore they’d never do.

Leaving behind her private forensic pathology practice in Charleston, South Carolina, Kay Scarpetta accepts an assignment in New York City, where the NYPD has asked her to examine an injured man on Bellevue Hospital’s psychiatric prison ward. The handcuffed and chained patient, Oscar Bane, has specifically asked for her, and when she literally has her gloved hands on him, he begins to talk—and the story he has to tell turns out to be one of the most bizarre she has ever heard.