Behind the gates of a fabulous Hamptons estate, FBI Special Agent Pendergast comes upon the carnage of a gruesome - and seemingly supernatural - crime. The smouldering remains of infamous art critic Jeremy Grove, a melted cross branding his chest, are found in a locked, barricaded attic. The hoofprint singed into the floorboards and the smell of brimstone recall the legendary horrors that befall those who make a pact with the Devil.

Pendergast combs New York, hoping for a simple explanation: a villain who is merely human. But his search takes him beyond the exclusive clubs and luxury penthouses of Manhattan to the crumbling, legend-shrouded castles of the Italian countryside, where - 30 years before - four men may have conjured something unspeakable.

Auteur

Douglas Preston writes about archaeology for the New Yorker and National Geographic magazines, as well as novels and nonfiction works (such as The Lost City of the Monkey God). With Lincoln Child, he writes international #1 bestselling thrillers, including the Agent Pendergast adventures.