The fourth in the bestselling series of psychological thrillers featuring Carson Ryder, the detective with a unique perspective on serial killers.Children are disappearing in Mobile, Alabama, the latest snatched from her own bedroom. There are no clues -- and, as yet, no bodies.Homicide Detective Carson Ryder is called in to investigate the abduction of little LaShelle Shearing only to find the case getting tangled up in murky departmental and civic politics. And with his partner Harry Nautilus fighting for his life after being viciously attacked, Carson is feeling increasingly isolated.Public rage is now reaching dangerous levels, and Ryder's bosses turn for help to ex-Detective Conner Sandhill whose uncanny ability to spot connections and details missed by others is legendary -- but who left the department under a cloud.Ryder and Sandhill form an uneasy alliance in the hunt for the missing children, a hunt which becomes all the more urgent...

A brilliant new psychological serial killer thriller featuring homicide detective Carson Ryder, hero of the bestselling 'The Hundredth Man' and 'The Death Collectors.'Blood was everywhere, like the interior had been hosed down with an artery ...The gore-sodden horror that greets homicide detective Carson Ryder on a late-night call out is enough to make him want to quit the case. Too late.Now he and his partner Harry are up to their necks in a Southern swamp of the bizarre and disturbing. An investigation full of twists and strange clues looks like it's leading to the city's least likely suspects -- a powerful family whose philanthropy has made them famous. But behind their money and smiles is a dynasty divided by hate.Their strange and horrific past is about to engulf everyone around them in a storm of violence and depravity. And Ryder's right in the middle of it ...

A terrifying new serial-killer thriller featuring Carson Ryder, hero of the bestselling The Hundredth Man.Thirty years after his death, Marsden Hexcamp's ‘Art of the Final Moment’ remains as sought after as ever. But this is no ordinary collection. Hexcamp's portfolio was completed with the aid of a devoted band of acolytes – and half a dozen victims, each of whom was slowly tortured to death so that their final agonies could be distilled into art.When tiny scraps of Hexcamp's ‘art’ begin appearing at murder scenes alongside gruesomely displayed corpses, Detective Carson Ryder and his partner Harry Nautilus must go back three decades in search of answers.Meanwhile an auction has been announced and the death collectors are gathering. These wealthy connoisseurs of serial-killer memorabilia will pay millions to acquire Hexcamp's art – unless Carson and Harry can beat them in their quest for the anti-grail.From Publishers WeeklyOn the trail of a serial killer, Alabama detectives Carson Ryder and Harry Nautilus uncover a network of wealthy collectors who'll pay top dollar for celebrity slayer artifacts. There is some irony that Kerley calls attention to our nation's unhealthy fascination with murderers in the course of a serial killer novel. Reader Hill aids the author's intent by employing a smarmy, supercilious voice for a key broker of the murder memorabilia and other unpleasant vocal characteristics—arrogance, brutishness—for the collectors. He also provides authentic and distinguishing accents for a large cast of mainly deep South dwellers, including gruff African-American Nautilus and Ryder, who narrates the novel with an unwavering easy-going, slightly whimsical drawl. But Hill's most impressive achievement is in turning Ryder's brother Jeremy, an incarcerated homicidal madman who, as written, is essentially one more Hannibal Lecter clone, into an original, mood-swinging nightmare whose 180-degree shifts from croon to rant can add a chill to the hottest summer weather. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From BooklistMarsden Hexcamp was murdered in a courtroom 30 years ago by one of his devoted acolytes. It wasn't considered a tragedy. Hexcamp, who would surely have been sentenced to death for a series of grisly murders, painted pictures depicting the crimes he committed, and these "works of art" have become extraordinarily valuable with underground collectors. Mobile, Alabama, police detectives Carson Ryder and Harry Nautilus infiltrate this macabre art world to find clues for a series of contemporary murders that suggest Marsden's handiwork, both in their details and because the killer is leaving behind small pieces of Marsden's art. Assisting Ryder and Nautilus in their investigation, as he did in The Hundredth Man, last year's well-received series debut, is Carson's brother, Jeremy, himself an institutionalized serial killer, who both provides his brother an entree into the world of serial-killer memorabilia and--a la Hannibal Lecter--offers insight into the mind of a killer. A genuinely creepy journey into madmen and their devoted followers. Wes LukowskyCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Detective Carson Ryder's reputation is on the line when a sociopathic serial killer embarks on a personal vendetta, constructing his crimes to hit Carson's weak spot. He's coming to get you... After a humiliating encounter with a cop, Romanian immigrant Gregory Nieves launches a vendetta against the Mobile Police Department, Alabama. Nieves can't fight a department, so he selects one man who symbolizes all men in blue: Carson Ryder, the MPD's specialist in bizarre and twisted crimes. Carson has never seen a killing spree like this one: Nothing connects the victims, the murder weapon is always different, and the horrific crime scenes are devoid of evidence. It almost seems he's being taunted. Even laughed at. Carson doesn't know it yet, but he is caught up in a sadistic game of life and death. And there can only be one victor...

Detective Carson Ryder's reputation is on the line when a sociopathic serial killer embarks on a personal vendetta, constructing his crimes to hit Carson's weak spot.Detective Carson Ryder and his partner Harry Nautilus are stymied by a series of seemingly random killings.What they don't know is that Romanian immigrant Gregory Nieves, traumatized after a childhood in a brutal orphanage, is conducting a vendetta against Mobile Police Department, and Carson in particular.In desperation, Carson eventually approaches the one person he never wanted to ask for help again - his brother Jeremy, an escaped serial killer.Jeremy's cryptic response to the case file could be the clue Carson needs to finally solve the case and rescue his reputation . or he could be about to embark on the highest-stakes wild goose chase imaginable.

A serial-killer targets the country's most vulnerable women in this new thriller featuring Detective Carson RyderThey thought they were safe at last...Across the US, a secret network of crisis centres permanently relocates women in serious danger from domestic abuse. But now someone is killing them before they reach their destinations.Detectives Carson Ryder and Harry Nautilus are having trouble gaining the trust of the volunteers who run the scheme. The only way in is for an undercover police officer to pose as a threatened woman, making herself a target and drawing the killer out.Reinetta Early is the ideal candidate -- but she also happens to be Harry's niece. He always promised his sister that he would keep Reinetta safe from harm. Suddenly he's unsure if he can even keep her alive...

Detective Carson Ryder returns, on the trail of a brutal killer with mysterious motives.

Detective Carson Ryder faces a cunning and inventive adversary in this terrifying thriller from the bestselling author of Her Last Scream. Young men in Miami are being abducted and tortured after their drinks are spiked with a cocktail of drugs that leaves them unable to recall their ordeal. Despite this, Detective Carson Ryder knows the predator's name, height, age, colouring ... everything. It's impossible for the perpetrator to avoid detection. Yet he does. When Carson seeks answers from his brother, a wanted criminal intimate with twisted minds, Jeremy's odd behaviour sparks even more questions. With each abduction, the violence becomes more horrific, and it's only a short time until torture turns to murder. But how do you catch an invisible man?

From Publishers WeeklyFirst-time author Kerley debuts with a classically constructed, psychotic-killer-with-a-horrendous-childhood thriller featuring young detective Carson Ryder, himself troubled by a problematic past. Carson and partner Harry Nautilus are the newly formed two-man Psychopathological and Sociopathological Investigative Team, referred to as Piss-it by the other members of the Mobile, Ala., police force. While Piss-it's official mandate is the investigation of murders committed by particularly horrendous killers, the formation of the team is actually a public relations scheme. Nevertheless, when a headless body turns up in a local park, Piss-it has its first real case. At the autopsy, Carson meets new hire Dr. Ava Davenelle, who is handling corpse-cutting duties. "She was dour, abrupt, and projected the femininity of a hammer—yet her motions verged on symphonic." Of course he's immediately smitten, though his polite advances are rejected. Turns out she has her own life as well as a job-threatening problem, which Carson must solve while simultaneously identifying the killer who has meanwhile added several more headless victims to his growing list. Carson's secret weapon of detection is his brother, an insane mass-murderer who feeds him clues on the nature of madmen from an asylum, à la Hannibal Lecter. Kerley has certainly mastered the form, and the nail-biter takedown scene is as exciting as any in the business. This is a solid addition to the genre, and a series to look forward to. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From BooklistCarson Ryder is a Mobile, Alabama, police detective whose key role in solving a serial-killer case landed him a place on a special unit devoted to psycho crimes. Like almost all the characters in this narrative locomotive of a first novel, Carson has a secret: his ability to crack the serial-killer case had a lot to do with advice he got from his brother, who has reason to know how psychos think. Now another serial killer is at work, beheading his (or her) male victims and leaving cryptic messages carved on their bodies. As Carson and his partner (perhaps the most appealing character in the book), veteran cop Harry Nautilus, investigate the murders, they quickly become ensnared both in department politics and in a quagmire of secrets involving the medical staff at the morgue. Kerley jacks up the tension effectively with nicely placed jumps between Carson's narration and the tortured thoughts of the killer, building to an all-stops-out climax involving a raging river and a supremely horrific home movie. There are moments where the book nearly zooms out of control--especially during the over-the-top climax--but, finally, the powerful forward motion of the narrative and the compelling forensic and psychological detail more than compensate for the heroine-tied-to-the-tracks melodrama. The finale aside, Kerley's plot is a treasure chest of interlocked pieces, each holding a secret, a link in the chain connecting the novel's characters to the demons in their various closets. Kerley isn't the new Ridley Pearson quite yet, but don't bet against him. Bill OttCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

From the bestselling author of Her Last Scream, a chilling tale of ritual murder and corruption, featuring Detective Carson Ryder. The Reverend Honus Schrum, a nationally renowned minister and owner of a broadcasting empire, tells the media he has come home to Key West to die. Meanwhile, Detective Carson Ryder is investigating the ritualistic murders of young women with chequered pasts, discovering the killings have religious overtones. Simultaneously, a newly retired Harry Nautilus takes a job as a driver/bodyguard for Richard Owsley, an ambitious pastor in Mobile. They come to Florida, where Owsley meets with Schrum and is enlisted to complete a special and mysterious 'project' Schrum has promised a billionaire benefactor. As Carson digs deeper into the murders, Harry, interest piqued by all the hush-hush goings-on of his new employer, begins to covertly investigate the strange project. Their independent investigations begin to converge, and Carson and Harry uncover a horrifying...

The next in the bestselling series of psychological thrillers featuring Carson Ryder, the detective with a unique perspective on serial killers Soon after witnessing the escape of violent psychopath Bobby Crayline from prison, Alabaman detective Carson Ryder takes a rare break in the mountains. But his vacation is interrupted when an anonymous phone call summons him to the scene of a grisly murder. With more savage killings, and the heavy-handed FBI only inflaming the situation, Ryder and local detective Donna Cherry sift through the increasingly bizarre clues. Is there more than one killer on the loose? And how does Carson?s clinically insane brother, Jeremy, now on the run, fit into the picture? It is down to Ryder to unearth horrors from the past that others believe should remain buried?