Origins of a Monster

Tampa, Florida-a city where the sun never sets on crime, and justice is a game played in the shadows.

Forensic specialist Elias Mercer has spent his life balancing on the razor-thin edge between order and chaos. By day, he analyzes the bodies left behind by monsters. By night, he becomes the predator they fear most. He has perfected the art of the silent kill-until a copycat emerges, sloppy and reckless, leaving behind a name that should never have been spoken. His.

At the same time, a war is brewing. The infamous cartel leader Marco Cortez has arrived in Tampa, and his target is Elias. But Elias doesn't run. He retaliates-with blood. When he abducts Marco's son, Angel, it sets off a deadly chain of events that neither man can control.

Then Camille Vasquez, Elias' former lover, is found dead-her body frozen, her arteries sliced, a message carved into her flesh. The killer isn't just imitating him. They're hunting him.

As the walls close in and secrets unravel, Detective Ryan Calloway begins to put the pieces together. Elias has always been the smartest man in the room, the one who controlled the board. But this time, he's not the only one playing.

Because someone out there knows his darkest secrets.

And they want him to suffer.