Divorced detective Jack Paris is shocked when the woman who killed his friend, an allegedly crooked cop, commits suicide.

But he has a new case to work on -- a brutal serial killer motivated by the mysterious Latin American religion Santeria.

Jack is drawn into a world of ritual murder and sexual obsession and realises he is the real focus of the psychopath.

Everything is linked in this carefully-plotted thriller, a dark, atmospheric and engrossing read that becomes satisfyingly gripping.

A paperback reprint, this early Montanari novel is just as good as his more recent Byrne and Balzano thrillers.

David Knights