A powerful and unforgettable thriller from ''one of the finest American writers'' GUARDIAN

Danny Boy Lorca was used to having apocalyptic visions - the beatings he''d taken in jail and the booze he drank to forget them made sure of that. But what he saw and heard that night out in the desert was more terrifying than anything even his battered spirit could have conjured. A man tortured to death. Slowly and methodically and with inhuman cruelty.

When Danny Boy tells his tale to Sheriff Hackberry Holland, Hack knows something evil has leaked over the border into his corner of South Texas. What he doesn''t realize is that this brutal slaying is just the beginning of a twisted three-way manhunt that will pit a psychotic killer seeking release for the souls of his murdered children against a religious maniac in love with death, and a Russian gangster whose name is a byword for fear...

Praise for one of the great American crime writers, James Lee Burke:

''James Lee Burke is the heavyweight champ, a great American novelist whose work, taken individually or as a whole, is unsurpassed.'' Michael Connelly

''A gorgeous prose stylist.'' Stephen King

''Richly deserves to be described now as one of the finest crime writers America has ever produced.'' Daily Mail

Fans of Dennis Lehane, Michael Connelly and Don Winslow will love James Lee Burke:

Hackberry Holland Series

1. Lay Down My Sword and Shield
2. Rain Gods
3. Feast Day of Fools
4. House of the Rising Sun

Dave Robicheaux Series

1. The Neon Rain
2. Heaven''s Prisoners
3. Black Cherry Blues
4. A Morning for Flamingos
5. A Stained White Radiance
6. In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead
7. Dixie City Jam
8. Burning Angel
9. Cadillac Jukebox
10. Sunset Limited
11. Purple Cane Road
12. Jolie Blon''s Bounce
13. Last Car to Elysian Fields
14. Crusader''s Cross
15. Pegasus Descending
16. The Tin Roof Blowdown
17. Swan Peak
18. The Glass Rainbow
19. Creole Belle
20. Light of the World
21. Robicheaux

Billy Bob Holland Series

1. Cimarron Rose
2. Heartwood
3. Bitterroot
4. In The Moon of Red Ponies

* Each James Lee Burke novel can be read as a standalone or in series order *