Two skeletonized corpses are pulled

from the sewage-choked waters of Manhattan's Humboldt Kill. Both are headless, their bones scored with teethmarks. It is by no means certain the teethmarks are postmortem.

Believing that the bodies must have been washed out of the city's sewers, Lieutenant Vincent D'Agosta of the NYPD, FBI agent Aloysius X.L. Pendergast and anthropologist Dr Margo Green descend into a dark labyrinth of tunnels and subterranean galleries forgotten by those who walk the streets above. They will be led deep underground, far from the light, to confront their very worst fear...

''A collision between past and present that will leave you breathless'' LEE CHILD.

''A positively delicious serving. Great fun to the last page'' ANNE RICE