Sharp Force - by Patricia Cornwell (Hardcover)

About the Book

"During/the early hours of Christmas/morning, chief medical examiner/Dr./Kay/Scarpetta receives/a chilling call. The Phantom Slasher/has struck again. The/serial killer has/terrorized/Northern Virginia for months. His pattern is/to stalk with a sophisticated technology that enables him to invade his victims' homes and watch their every move./They wake up to/a ghost-like hologram before being murdered/ in their beds. Scarpetta/is summoned to/Mercy Island, the site of/a notorious/psychiatric hospital where two people have been brutalized, one of them from/Scarpetta's/past. It soon becomes apparent that she/ could be next..."--Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author Patricia Cornwell "at the very top of her game," a serial killer wreaks havoc on Northern Virginia, appearing as a ghostly apparition before striking--and Scarpetta must avoid becoming their next victim, with SCARPETTA soon to be a streaming series starring Nicole Kidman and Jamie Lee Curtis. (David Baldacci)

NO ONE IS SAFE FROM THE SERIAL KILLER

NOT EVEN SCARPETTA...

During the early hours of Christmas morning, chief medical examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta receives a chilling call. The Phantom Slasher has struck again.

The serial killer has terrorized Northern Virginia for months. His pattern is to stalk with a sophisticated technology that enables him to invade his victims' homes and watch their every move. They wake up to a ghost-like hologram before being murdered in their beds.

Scarpetta is summoned to Mercy Island, the site of a notorious psychiatric hospital where two people have been brutalized, one of them from Scarpetta's past. It soon becomes apparent that she could be next...

Review Quotes

"I grew up in Richmond where Patricia Cornwell's electrifying debut novel Postmortem was set. I still remember the thrill of following one of crime fiction's greatest characters, Kay Scarpetta, as she hunted down a killer. In Sharp Force Cornwell is at the very top of her game and Scarpetta is as finely wrought as ever. The research is as impeccable as always, and you will never look at an avatar in quite the same way. You are in the hands of a master storyteller. Sit back and prepare to be thrilled."

--David Baldacci, New York Times bestselling author of Strangers in Time

About the Author

Patricia Cornwell is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and widely considered one of the world's top crime writers. In 1990, Patricia Cornwell sold her first novel, Postmortem, while working at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Richmond, Virginia. An auspicious debut, it went on to win the Edgar, Creasey, Anthony, and Macavity Awards, as well as the French Prix du Roman d'Aventures--the first book ever to claim all these distinctions in a single year. Growing into an international phenomenon, the Scarpetta series won Cornwell the Sherlock Award for best detective created by an American author, the Gold Dagger Award, the RBA Thriller Award, and the Medal of Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters for her contributions to literary and artistic development.

Today, Cornwell's novels and iconic characters are known around the world. Beyond the Scarpetta series, Cornwell has written the definitive nonfiction account of Jack the Ripper's identity, cookbooks, a children's book, a biography of Ruth Graham, and three other fictional series based on the characters Win Garano, Andy Brazil, and Captain Calli Chase. Cornwell continues exploring the latest space-age technologies and threats relevant to contemporary life. Her interests range from the morgue to artificial intelligence and include visits to Interpol, the Pentagon, the U.S. Secret Service, and NASA.

Cornwell was born in Miami. She grew up in Montreat, North Carolina, and now lives and works in Boston.