Predator - (Scarpetta) by Patricia Cornwell (Paperback)

About the Book

Investigating the disappearance of two sisters in Florida, Dr. Kay Scarpetta follows clues that twist and turn, leading her into the psychopathic depths of a jailed serial killer's mind. Includes an all-new Introduction by Cornwell. Available in a tall Premium Edition. Reissue.

Book Synopsis

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - Investigating a case that stretches from steamy Florida to snowbound Boston, Dr. Kay Scarpetta follows clues that twist and turn, leading her into the psychopathic depths of a jailed serial killer's mind. . . .

"Sensationally plotted, with a twist at the end that will leave you gasping for breath."--Daily Express (London)

"Cornwell brings [compulsive murderers] to full, frightening life."--The New York Times Book Review

IN DEVELOPMENT AS THE ORIGINAL SERIES SCARPETTA STARRING NICOLE KIDMAN AND JAMIE LEE CURTIS

Dr. Kay Scarpetta, now freelancing with the National Forensic Academy in Florida, and her team--Pete Marino, Benton Wesley, and her niece, Lucy--track the odd connections between several horrific crimes and the people who are the likely suspects. In Florida, Scarpetta is investigating the puzzling disappearance four people who have been abducted from their quiet home, leaving their car parked haphazardly in the driveway and a stove burner on low. Then Marino finds something in a nearby house that stops him cold: a woman who has complained of harassment from a citrus canker inspector has been viciously murdered in her bed.

As one psychopath, safely behind bars and the subject of a classified scientific study at a Harvard-affiliated psychiatric hospital, teases Scarpetta with tips that could be fact--or fantasy--the number of killers on the loose seems to multiply. Are these events related or merely random? And what can the study of one man's brain tell them about the methods of a psychopath still lurking in the shadows?

Review Quotes

"Sensationally plotted, with a twist at the end that will leave you gasping for breath."--The Daily Express (U.K.)

"A fine psychological thriller...recalls the work of writers like Minette Walters or Thomas Harris."--The Denver Post

"[Readers] will find themselves entertained and surprised by the ending."--The Stuart News/Port St. Lucie News (Stuart, FL)

"There is a steely authority to the prose."--The Independent (London)

"Cornwell and her original heroine Kay Scarpetta are both back in top form."--Birmingham Post

About the Author

Patricia Cornwell is one of the world's major internationally bestselling authors, translated into thirty-six languages in more than 120 countries. She is a founder of the Virginia Institute of Forensic Science and Medicine; a founding member of the National Forensic Academy; a member of the Advisory Board for the Forensic Sciences Training Program at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, New York City; and a member of the Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital's National Council, where she is an advocate for psychiatric research. In 2008, Cornwell won the Galaxy British Book Awards' Books Direct Crime Thriller of the Year--the first American to win this prestigious award. In 2011, she was awarded the Medal of Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters by the Ministry of Culture in Paris. Her earlier works include Postmortem--the only novel to win five major crime awards in a single year--and Cruel & Unusual, which won Britain's Gold Dagger Award for best crime novel of 1993. Dr. Kay Scarpetta herself won the 1999 Sherlock Award for the best detective created by an American author.