Around noon, I got a call on my cell phone. "Just checking in," the mastermind said. "How is San Francisco, Alex? Lovely city. Will you leave your heart there? Do you think it's a good place to die?"
The mastermind of 'Roses Are Red' is back - and he's hot on Alex Cross's trail. Meanwhile, Alex is drawn into his most bizarre investigation yet.
Two San Francisco joggers are found dead - bitten and hung by their feet to drain the blood from their bodies. Further murders in California, and then on the East Coast as well, completely baffle Alex and the FBI. Is this the work of a cult, of role players, or even of modern-day vampires?
Desperate to stop the deaths, Alex teams up with Jamilla Hughes, a savvy woman detective from San Francisco . . . and the FBI's Kyle Craig. But Alex has never been closer to defeat, or in greater danger. In a shocking conclusion, he must survive a deadly confrontation - only to learn at last the awful secret of the Mastermind.
Two fantastic mysteries in one non-stop thriller will have readers the world over furiously turning the pages.