Law firm partners Oscar Finley and Wally Figg see a chance for huge financial gain when they learn of a pending class action lawsuit against the makers of Krayoxx, a popular cholesterol-reducing drug suspected of causing heart attacks.
'The moment I heard how McAra died I should have walked away. I can see that now...' The narrator of Robert Harris' gripping new novel is a professional ghostwriter - cynical, mercenary, and with a nice line in deadpan humour. Accustomed to working with fading rock stars and minor celebrities, he jumps at the chance to ghost the memoirs of Britain's former prime minister, especially as it means flying to the American resort of Martha's Vineyard in the middle of winter and finishing the book in the seclusion of a luxurious house. But it doesn't take him long to realise he has made a terrible mistake. His predecessor on the project died in circumstances that were distinctly suspicious, and the ex-prime minister turns out to be a man with secrets in his past that are returning to haunt him - secrets with the power to kill.
Een wapenfreak in Montana. Een pooier in New York. Een computergenie in India. Allemaal vermoord. Wat verbindt hen ? Will Monroe, de jonge sterreporter van The New York Times, ruikt een verhaal. Maar dan wordt Wills vrouw Beth ontvoerd, en begint een wedloop tussen leven en dood. Hij moet het volgende slachtoffer vinden of... Het spoor leidt naar Crown Heights, het hart van de orthodox-joods gemeenschap. Will doet geheime kennis op uit de kabbala, en hoort over het einde der tijden en over de Lamed Vay, de Bijbelse Uitverkorenen.