Carson Ryder

A darkly compelling serial-killer thriller set in America's deep South, introducing the next big name in psychological thrillers and, in Carson Ryder, a fascinating and complex protagonist set for a long time to come. A headless male torso found in the sweating heat of an Alabama night is assumed to be that of a murdered prostitute, killed in a moment of passion. The head of Mobile's police department would have it so, but Detective Carson Ryder sees something else: the deliberate placement of the remains, the lack of blood, the bizarre writing on the victim's skin. Ryder has become a local celebrity after solving a series of brutal murders a year earlier, but his reputation is built on a terrible secret, stemming from his childhood – a secret he has kept from even his closest friend. Another torso; another, even stranger, message – and the victim this time is no prostitute. Whatever Ryder's instincts about the case, however, the Byzantine manoeuvrings of departmental politics are interfering with the investigation. Are deliberate obstacles being placed in Ryder's way? And how does the chief pathologist's office tie in? Is there indeed a psychopathic killer out there in the night or does the solution lie elsewhere? Ryder must get to the heart of the murders – and grapple with the demons that are rising again from his own past.

A major new psychological thriller featuring Carson Ryder, hero of the bestselling, The Hundredth Man.

A major new psychological serial killer thriller featuring homicide detective Carson Ryder, hero of the bestsellers The Hundredth Man and The Death Collectors. It looked like an abattoir when they found the mutilated body of the young journalist inside her car. And if Carson Ryder and his partner had known what they were getting into, they would never have taken the case. Too late, what looks like the work of a lone madman spreads tentacles that wrap themselves round all sorts of strange areas. And it's not long before attention focuses on the city's most unlikely suspects: the wealthy family whose philanthropy has made them famous and influential. For behind every fortune, there is a crime. And behind their money and smiles is a family divided by hatred, a family whose strange and horrific past is about to engulf everyone around them – including Ryder.

Reverend Schrum, a renowned minister, tells the media he has come home to die. Detective Carson Ryder is investigating ritualistic murders, with religious overtones. Meanwhile, Harry Nautilus takes a job as a driver and bodyguard for Richard Owsley, a pastor. Owsley meets with Schrum and is enlisted to complete a mysterious 'project'. As Carson digs deeper and Harry's interest piques from all the hushed goings-on of his employer, their independent investigations begin to converge...