Kay Scarpetta has been training at the Dover Port Mortuary, mastering the art of 'virtual autopsy' - a groundbreaking procedure that could soon revolutionise forensic science. And it is not too long before these new skills urgently need to be put into practice. A young man drops dead, apparently from a heart condition, eerily close to Scarpetta's home. But when his body is examined the next morning, there are stunning indications that he may have been alive when he was zipped inside a pouch and locked in the cooler. When the revolutionary 3D radiology scans reveal more shocking details about internal injuries unlike any Scarpetta has ever seen, she realizes that this is a case of murder - and that she is fighting a cunning and uniquely cruel enemy. Now it is a race against time to discover who and why before more people die. But that time is running out ...

About the Author

Patricia Cornwell's first novel, POSTMORTEM, was published in 1990 and won five international awards. Her Scarpetta novels have since become Number One bestsellers throughout the world.

Prizes

*Unmissable, supersize outdoor advertising campaign *Social media campaign encompassing Facebook, Twitter, author & retailer websites *Innovative digital campaign to place Cornwell at the cutting edge of crime fiction

Reviews

The 18th installment of Cornwell's best-selling series (after The Scarpetta Factor) weaves together ghosts of Kay Scarpetta's murky military past with modern-day high-tech terrorism. Scarpetta is finishing a fellowship at Dover Air Force Base, where she spends her days dealing in dead U.S. soldiers arriving at Port Mortuary-literally a port for the dead. Meanwhile, back at the Massachusetts-based Cambridge Forensic Center (CFC), where she is the director, disaster is brewing when evidence seems to indicate that a young man may still have been alive when his body was locked up inside the CFC's cooler. As Scarpetta begins to investigate this death, she is astounded to discover wounds inflicted by a new weapon unfamiliar to her. Scarpetta and her team soon realize that a terrifying new nanotechnology is being employed for evil purposes. Cornwell breathes new life into timeworn characters and captivates readers with intensive character development and a detailed plot. Verdict Fans of the Scarpetta series will be clamoring for this fast-paced foray into the intriguing world of forensic science and technological terrorism. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 6/1/10.]-Amy M. Handley, Kent State Univ., Columbus, OH (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

'A thrilling read Best Long, terse and brilliant...Cornwell, who has already won more prizes than you can shake a stick at, seems to be getting better and better City AM A gripping read made more chilling by Cornwell's note that the sci-fi technology she's describing actually exists Metro A bountiful offering from one of crime fiction's most celebrated authors...arguably her most accessible book in more than a decade Hartford Books Examiner