Lincoln Rhyme faces "an Orwellian nightmare" (The New York Times) as a twisted techno-genius destroys lives with impunity by stealing personal information from behind the impenetrable walls of cyberspace.
Rhyme´s cousin Arthur has been arrested on murder charges, and the evidence against the estranged relative Lincoln hasn´t seen in years is perfect--too perfect. Lincoln and his partner Amelia Sachs piece together a deadly pattern of similarly vicious frame-ups that leads them to the imposing Strategic Systems Datacorp--and a master of identity theft and manipulation known only as "522." But cracking this ingenious killer´s realm places Rhyme and Sachs exactly where "522" wants them--in line to be the next victims.