A beautiful young woman called Marilyn picks up a stranger in a bar and takes him home to her Manhattan apartment. The next morning her housekeeper discovers Marilyn's body. Marilyn's life and death have far-reaching effects on others, even people she has never met: a charismatic former police commissioner on the verge of a breakdown; a struggling writer; a folk art dealer plumbing the depths of her own fierce sexuality; a lawyer who prefers murder trials because there's one witness fewer. And in a city reeling from 9/11, an unlikely mass murderer wages a one-man war against everyone. In this gripping, multi-faceted story, Block not only brings to life in brilliant detail the city of New York, but proves he is one of the most talented, innovative and surprising crime writers in the business.

布洛克是当代美国侦探小说大师，他的小说不仅在美国备受推崇，还跨越大西洋，完全征服了自诩为侦探小说原乡的欧洲。

1938年6月24日生于纽约水牛城，当代美国冷硬派侦探小说大师，纽约犯罪行吟诗人。19岁发表处女作《你不可错过》,之后近50年，笔耕不缀, 至今已有30多部小说问世,被誉为当代欧美侦探推理小说第一人。1959年毕业于俄亥俄州安提阿科学院，目前定居纽约。