Ritual

Fans of Stephen King, Stuart MacBride and Karin Slaughter will devour this dark and disturbing thriller from bestselling and prize-winning author Mo Hayder. Expertly weaving ancient rites with modern forensics, it draws you in and paints a picture so vivid and compelling in the mind, you''ll be hooked from page one...

''Intensely enthralling'' - OBSERVER
''Expect plenty of blood, gore and black magic'' -- DAILY MIRROR
''A vivid and thorough exploration of the clash between ancient superstition and modern science, with plenty of thrills and chills along the way'' - GUARDIAN
''Really can recommend and I''m not one for giving the story away so try it yourself and you won''t be disappointed!'' -- ***** Reader review
''I couldn''t put it down and finished it in a week'' -- ***** Reader review
''Fantastic and thrilling'' -- ***** Reader review
''Darkly enthralling, was hooked in'' -- ***** Reader review

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Just after lunch on a Tuesday in April, nine feet under water, police diver Flea Marley closes her gloved fingers around a human hand. The fact that there''s no body attached is disturbing enough. Yet more disturbing is the discovery, a day later, of the matching hand.

Both have been recently amputated, and the indications are that the victim was still alive when they were removed.

DI Jack Caffery has been newly seconded to the Major Crime Investigation Unit in Bristol. He and Flea soon establish that the hands belong to a boy who has recently disappeared.

Their search for him - and for his abductor - lead them into the darkest recesses of Bristol''s underworld, where drug addiction is rife, where street-kids sell themselves for a hit, and where an ancient evil lurks; an evil that feeds off the blood - and flesh - of others ...