Sharp Force: A Scarpetta Novel

Virginia medical examiner Kay Scarpetta returns (after Identity Unknown) for a brisk, kaleidoscopic thriller from bestseller Cornwell. On Christmas eve, Kay is performing an autopsy on Rowdy O’Leary, whose body has just been pulled from the Potomac River. In his parka, she finds an expensive emerald ring in a presentation box, and grows curious as to why he’d bring such an item along on a nighttime fishing expedition. Meanwhile, the body of an unidentified woman is found in a graveyard on Mercy Island, site of a former mental hospital. Both cases make law enforcement nervous due to their ongoing search for the Phantom Slasher, a D.C.-area serial killer whose attacks have coincided with major holidays. Kay teams up with her brother-in-law, former police detective Pete Marino, to launch their own investigation, and soon gets an unusual clue when three strange primates escape from a laboratory near Kay’s home. With a robotic dog, holograms galore, and mysterious red orbs circling the Virginia skies, the series continues its recent flirtation with science fiction, to occasionally eye-rolling effect. The pace is fleet enough, however, to keep Scarpetta fans flipping pages. Agent: Esther Newberg, CAA. (Oct.)