Alex Cross has investigated macabre crime scenes. But the gruesome murders of two joggers in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park look like ritualistic killings that mimic the work of vampires, a solution local police and the FBI are quick to dismiss.

Cross takes the case, sweeping him from Washington, DC, to Savannah, Las Vegas, New Orleans, and Los Angeles as he plunges into a netherworld of secret clubs, role-players, and posers. Evidence points to someone demented enough to have crossed the line from playacting to real blood. Someone like the merciless criminal known as the Mastermind, who’s been lurking on the fringes, stalking, taunting, and threatening Alex Cross and everything he holds dear.

“Particularly juicy…enjoyably spooky…bottom line: bloody good creepiest.” —People