The serial killer to end all serial killers is out there and only one person in the whole city knows it...

Twenty years ago John Costello's life, as he knew it, ended. He and his beautiful girlfriend, Nadia, were victims of the deranged 'Hammer of God' killer who terrorised New Jersey City throughout the summer of 1984. Nadia was killed instantly. John survived, but withdrew from society, emerging only to work as a crime researcher for a major newspaper. Damaged he may be, but no one in New Jersey knows more about serial killers than John Costello.

Then a new spate of murders starts - all seemingly random and unrelated - until John discovers a complex pattern that links them. But could this dark knowledge be about to threaten his life?

'Quite simply one of the best cop thrillers you'll read this year. Or any year. It's an achievement that parks Ellory's wagon on the driveway of Michael Connelly, the finest American exponent of the genre, and no higher praise can I give.' EVENING TELEGRAPH 'The prose is daring and he is head and shoulders above his contemporaries.' CATHOLIC HERALD 'This thriller was so gripping it had me holding my breath as I turned the pages' ESSENTIALS 'a serial killer story unlike any other...it grips like a claw' EVENING TELEGRAPH 'This is one of those police-procedural gems that come along once in a blue moon.' -- Elliott Swanson BOOKLIST 'This man [Ellory] is incapable of writing a mediocre book. All are, without doubt, first class.' LOVEREADING.CO.UK 'This is one of Ellory's fastest reads, a real page-turner, gruesome, at times chilling, building to an edge-of-the-seat climax. Awesome.' LOVEREADING.CO.UK 'Ellory's gripping thriller should appeal to lovers of procedurals and may also draw readers of true crime, as it deals with many actual serial killings.' LIBRARY JOURNAL (USA)

R.J. Ellory is the author of twenty novels published by Orion UK, and his work has been translated into twenty-six languages. He has won sixteen international literary awards including the Quebec Booksellers' Prize, the Livre De Poche Award, the Strand Magazine Novel of The Year, the Mystery Booksellers of America Award, the Inaugural Nouvel Observateur Prize, the Quebec Laureat, the Prix Du Roman Noir, the Plume d'Or for Thriller Internationale 2016, the Theakston's Crime Novel of the Year, both the St. Maur and Villeneuve Readers' Prizes, the Balai d'Or 2016, and the Grand Prix des Lecteurs on two occasions. He has been shortlisted for two Barrys, the 813 Trophy, the European Du Point, and five Crime Writers' Association UK awards. Among other projects, he is the guitarist and vocalist of The Whiskey Poets, and has recently completed the band's third album. His musical compositions have been featured in films and television programmes in more than forty countries. He has four television series and two films in pre-production, and has recently started work on the French film adaptation of A Quiet Belief in Angels. To find out more visit www.rjellory.com or follow him on X @rjellory