Starý Rím, mesto slávy postavené na brehu rieky neresti, sa hemží ambicióznymi a neľútostnými mužmi. Nik z nich sa však nevyrovná Marcovi Cicerovi. Mladý postupujúci právnik, brzdený manželkou-dračicou, sa rozhodne staviť všetko na jedinú kartu v najdramatickejšom zákulisnom boji všetkých čias. Ak vyhrá, získa neobmedzenú moc nad Rímom. Ak prehrá, je navždy stratený.
A body is discovered in a Virginia landfill. The details --- expert removal of head and limbs --- mirror that of a case Dr. Kay Scarpetta has been investigating in Ireland. But for Scarpetta, the game has only just begun. The killer boldly contacts her via the Internet, signing off with the ominous screen name deadoc. As her investigation deepens, Scarpetta discovers that the victim in Virginia was exposed to a rare smallpox-like virus before she was killed, and that Scarpetta herself could be infected. Now she knows she is up against a killer unlike any she has pursued before --- a relentless psychopath with access to an incredibly sophisticated arsenal of deadly force. And with a very personal interest in seeing Kay Scarpetta suffer.
On July 17, 1996, TWA Flight 800 exploded off the coast of Long Island. Five years later, the crash has been attributed to a mechanical malfunction. But for John Corey and his wife Kate Mayfield, both members of the elite Anti-Terrorist Task Force, the case is not closed.
Now living in close proximity to his ex-wife Susan, John Sutter is targeted by her dead lover's mafia son Anthony, who seeks revenge against his father's murderer and attempts to lure John back into the violent world of the Bellarosa crime family.