Racing to uncover the mystery of several light green-shoe-clad severed feet discovered floating in the Atlantic, Agent Pendergast is usually confronted with most inexplicable task of his career in this installment from the #1 NYT bestselling series.

A STARTLING Criminal offense WITH DOZENS OF VICTIMS.

Taken from nowhere to horrify the quiet vacation resort town of Sanibel Island, Florida, dozens of identical, ordinary-looking shoes and boots float in for the tide and are washed up on the tropical beach–each one using a crudely about Crooked River severed human foot inside.

A GHASTLY ENIGMA WITH NO APPARENT SOLUTION.

Called from holiday elsewhere in the condition, Agent Pendergast reluctantly agrees to go to the crime scene–and, despite himself, can be quickly drawn in with the incomprehensible puzzle. An early pathology report just adds to the mystery. With an ocean of opportunities confronting the investigation, no one is usually sure what occurred, why, or from where in fact the feet originated. And they desperately need to know: are the victims still alive?

A WORTHY Problem FOR A BRILLIANT MIND.

Promptly, Pendergast finds himself facing probably the most complex and inexplicable challenge of his career: a tangled thread of evidence that spans seas and traverses continents, connected to perhaps one of the most baffling mysteries in contemporary medical science. Through shocking twists and converts, all trails business lead back to a powerful adversary using a sadistic plan and who–in a cruel irony–ultimately sees in Pendergast the perfect subject because of their malevolent research.