"Gorman's writing is strong, fast and sleek as a bullet." DEAN R KOONTZ "Gorman is the poet of dark suspense." BLOOMSBURY REVIEW THE MASTER OF DARK SUSPENSE IN A QUIET MIDWESTERN CITY... ...A community is coming apart at the seams. He is a mild-mannered academic turned serial killer being hunted for crimes he doesn't recognize as his own. She is a TV anchorwoman losing the ratings game-and the only person who understands the evil that drives him. Between them, an innocent young girl's life hangs in the balance... IN AN EMPTY APARTMENT IN THE CITY... ...He has found a manila envelope that holds gruesome photographs of his past deeds and instructions for his next killing. Despite himself, he will follow the instructions as if they were his own will... IN THE DARK STREET SHADOWS... ...The police scramble furiously to understand him and stop him, while a TV reporter is onto the story of a lifetime. She knows who he is... and who his next victim will be. What she doesn't know is how little time she has left-and how terrible is the power of the Serpent's Kiss... "How long has Ed Gorman been writing, and why didn't anybody tell me about him?" F PAUL W ILSON "Watch out! Ed Gorman's coming to get you!" CRIME TIME