After the slaughter of his girlfriend by an unknown assassin, Nicholas Newman wants only to start afresh. However, when a link is made between killings across Europe, he reluctantly agrees to help the police again. When attempts are made on his life, he realizes his nightmare has only just begun.
DI Jack Caffery, the hero of Mo Hayder’s bestselling novelsBirdmanandThe Treatment, is back. Seconded from London to Bristol, Caffery is trying to leave his personal life behind, but he cannot escape the memories of his younger brother’s murder and the suspect who went free. When police diver Sergeant Phoebe “Flea” Marley discovers a freshly severed human hand in Bristol’s harbour and its mate buried under a restaurant’s doorstep, Caffery is there to lead the investigation. But rather than find answers, or a body to match those hands, Caffery and Flea discover a terrifying underworld of drug addiction, ritual mutilation and muti, African medicine magic. Tormented by his personal demons, Caffery seeks out the company of the infamous Walking Man, a recently released convict from a high-security prison, who sleeps rough and walks the country roads as he relives the memories of a terrifying crime. Flea Marley has her own ghosts to confrontthe cave-diving death of her parents in a cold, water-filled hole in South Africaand a frightening personal association with the crime she and Caffery are investigating. Britain’s “Queen of Fear” has once again proven herself a master of her craft. Ritual is a gripping psychological thriller, a chilling story seen through the eyes of complex characters and told with masterful voice and style.
Jeff Talley, veliteľ policajného okrsku v mestečku na juhu Kalifornie, kedysi pracoval ako vyjednávač v elitnej jednotke SWAT losangeleskej polície. Po tom, čo v jednom prípade nezvládol vyjednávanie, zomrel mladý rukojemník a Talleyho odvtedy trápia nočné mory. Jedného dňa sa traja chuligáni rozhodnú vykradnúť obchod s potravinami v jeho okrsku, no lúpež sa končí vraždou. Mladí vrahovia na úteku pred spravodlivosťou zajmú Waltera Smitha a jeho dve deti a zabarikádujú sa v Smithovom dome. Situácia sa ešte väčšmi komplikuje, keďže Smith robí účtovníka mafii, a tá ho chce za každú cenu živého. Neváhajú uniesť Talleymu manželku a dcéru a donútia ho tak čeliť svojej nočnej more – musí opäť vyjednávať o životy nevinných ľudí