Sharp Force
On sale
16th July 2026
Price: £10.99
Genre
NO ONE IS SAFE FROM THE SERIAL KILLER
NOT EVEN SCARPETTA…
In the early hours of the morning, chief medical examiner Dr Kay Scarpetta receives a chilling call. The Phantom Slasher has struck again.
The serial killer has terrorized Northern Virginia for months. His pattern is to stalk with a sophisticated technology that enables him to invade his victims’ homes and watch their every move. They wake up to a ghost-like hologram before being murdered in their beds.
Scarpetta is summoned to Mercy Island, the site of a notorious psychiatric hospital where two people have been brutalized, one of them from Scarpetta’s past. It soon becomes apparent that she could be next . . .
NOT EVEN SCARPETTA…
In the early hours of the morning, chief medical examiner Dr Kay Scarpetta receives a chilling call. The Phantom Slasher has struck again.
The serial killer has terrorized Northern Virginia for months. His pattern is to stalk with a sophisticated technology that enables him to invade his victims’ homes and watch their every move. They wake up to a ghost-like hologram before being murdered in their beds.
Scarpetta is summoned to Mercy Island, the site of a notorious psychiatric hospital where two people have been brutalized, one of them from Scarpetta’s past. It soon becomes apparent that she could be next . . .
Newsletter Signup
By clicking ‘Sign Up,’ I acknowledge that I have read and agree to Hachette Book Group’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
Reviews
A pioneer of the genre of forensic psychological thriller
In Sharp Force Cornwell is at the very top of her game and Scarpetta is as finely wrought as ever. The research is as impeccable as always . . . You are in the hands of a master storyteller. Sit back and prepare to be thrilled
Slick, fast-paced and brilliant
Classic Cornwell with an up-to-the-minute twenty-first-century plot - an intoxicating blend that proves Scarpetta is still queen of the autopsy and Cornwell is still queen of crime fiction. An utterly thrilling roller coaster ride
Slick, ghoulish, and a reliable stocking-filler for crime fiction lovers
The queen of the forensic thriller
One of the best crime writers writing today
The top gun in this field
With Cornwell's signature forensic detail and intense pacing, this latest instalment is a must read
The Agatha Christie of the DNA age
Astonishing . . . Thirty years on, there's still no other crime writer like her
Expert pacing and psychologically nuanced and complex characters
Forget the pretenders. Cornwell reigns
This is vintage Cornwell
Thirty years on, there's still no other crime writer like her
A masterfully plotted and utterly addictive crime thriller
PRAISE FOR UNNATURAL DEATH
The Agatha Christie of the DNA age
America's most stimulating and chilling writer of crime fiction
Compelling, grisly and dark, another incredible thriller
Forget the pretenders. Cornwell reigns
One of the all-time greats of this genre
A chilling, thrilling, macabre masterpiece. Unnatural Death is Patricia Cornwell at her mesmerising finest. The best just got better
Cutting-edge
One of the best crime writers writing today
When it comes to forensic sciences, nobody can touch Cornwell
America's most stimulating and chilling writer of crime fiction
PRAISE FOR PATRICIA CORNWELL
Sinister, surprising and utterly unputdownable. Cornwell at her brilliant best
Cornwell really is in a league of her own
The queen of the forensic thriller
A brisk, kaleidoscopic thriller
An especially good entry in the series
The top gun in this field
PRAISE FOR PATRICIA CORNWELL
