From #1 New York Times bestselling authors Preston & Child, Agent Pendergast is faced with the most inexplicable challenge of his career when severed feet are found floating in the Gulf of Mexico.

A startling crime with dozens of victims.

To the horror of the quiet resort town of Sanibel Island, Florida, dozens of shoes wash up on the tropical beach—each one with a crudely severed human foot inside.

A ghastly enigma with no apparent solution.

Called away from vacation, Agent Pendergast reluctantly agrees to visit the crime scene and is quickly drawn in by the incomprehensible puzzle. An early pathology report only adds to the mystery. He desperately needs to know: are the victims still alive?

A worthy challenge for a brilliant mind.

Through shocking twists and turns, all trails lead back to a powerful adversary with a sadistic agenda and who—in a cruel irony—ultimately sees in Pendergast the ideal subject for their malevolent research.