An FBI neuroscientist finds herself in the crosshairs of a powerful psychopath: “A natural for devotees of Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta.” —Booklist
Senior Special Agent Sayer Altair studies the minds of psychopaths. But even she didn’t expect to uncover a killer within the FBI. Rooting him out and exposing internal corruption got her a bullet wound and six months of desk duty. Now she’s finally back in the field, called in when an off-duty agent and his cadaver dog fall into a sinkhole filled with human bones.
Found deep in Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park, the skeletal remains date back almost two decades, the same time a beloved local teen disappeared. The cold case quickly heats up when Sayer’s team finds two fresh corpses among the bones. When a gruesome clue ties these new bodies to a woman recently kidnapped along with her young daughter, Sayer has to uncover the connection between the old bones and the new bodies before the next victims die.
But the killer is one step ahead, attacking her team and sabotaging their efforts. Sayer’s investigation is compromised and she’s unsure of who to trust. Then she receives unwanted help from Subject 037—one of the anonymous psychopaths she is currently studying. And she comes to the chilling realization that he’s someone powerful in Washington D.C.—and he is not about to let a mundane serial killer jeopardize his own ominous agenda for Sayer . . .
“Fascinating, original, and chilling. Ellison Cooper’s terrific novel cost me sleep—which is exactly what I want a thriller to do.” —Meg Gardiner, Edgar Award winner and #1 New York Times–bestselling author of UNSUB
