Wounded in the line of duty. NYPD homicide detective John Corey is convalescing in the Long Island township of Southold when Tom and Judy Gordon are found dead on their patio. Corey knew the young, attractive couple, and Sylvester Maxwell, the local police chief, wants his big-city expertise. Maxwell, however, gets more than he bargained for.

The early signs point to a burglary gone wrong, but because the Gordons were
biologists at Plum Island, the off-shore animal disease research site rumoured to
be involved in germ warfare, it isn't long before the media are suggesting that the
dead couple stole something very deadly.
John Corey's investigations lead him into the lore, legends and ancient secrets of
northern Long Island. But they are secrets more dangerous than he could ever have imagined - and he becomes trapped in a crime with global implications...