Now, the “masterful” (Clive Cussler) author of Blind Instinct and Cutting Edgeplunges readers further into the dark abyss of the criminal mind as a sweltering city reels under the icy slash of a killer too clever to get caught, and too insatiable to stop...In the dark corners of Houston’s urban nightworld, Detective Lucas Stonecoat and police psychiatrist Meredyth Sanger have come across another prostitute mutilated by the Scalper-a killer who has turned a primitive act of barbarism into a grisly, modern-day ritual. The crimes have cut deep into Stonecoat’s heart and soul. He understands their infamous place in history.But even Stonecoat can’t fathom how far this elusive savage will goto fulfill an ancient tribal instinct...