Secret of the Seventh Son

There are secrets that must remain buried . . .

Nine people have been slain in New York City—nine strangers with nothing in common—the apparent victims of a frighteningly elusive serial killer. Only one thing links the dead: postcards they received, mailed from Las Vegas, announcing the day they would die.

Assigned to the case is a legendary FBI profiler with a troubled past, a drinking problem, and nothing left to lose . . .

Abandoned to a monastery is an unwanted son born under a curse on the seventh day of the seventh month of the year 777 . . .

Unprepared for a momentous discovery is a post-World War II expedition into the crypts of a clandestine medieval society . . .

. . . but all lead to a secret embroiled in destiny, history, evil, faith, and corruption . . . and one terrifying truth that no one must ever know . . .

There are secrets that must remain buried . . .

Nine people have been slain in New York City—nine strangers with nothing in common—the apparent victims of a frighteningly elusive serial killer. Only one thing links the dead: postcards they received, mailed from Las Vegas, announcing the day they would die.

Assigned to the case is a legendary FBI profiler with a troubled past, a drinking problem, and nothing left to lose . . .

Abandoned to a monastery is an unwanted son born under a curse on the seventh day of the seventh month of the year 777 . . .

Unprepared for a momentous discovery is a post-World War II expedition into the crypts of a clandestine medieval society . . .

. . . but all lead to a secret embroiled in destiny, history, evil, faith, and corruption . . . and one terrifying truth that no one must ever know . . .

Publishers Weekly

Debut author Cooper opens this quasi-supernatural thriller with a series of mysterious deaths in New York. Each victim received a postcard depicting a coffin just before the murder. The FBI turns to Will Piper, a talented agent with a bad attitude who's counting the days to retirement. Teamed with young agent Nancy Lipinski, Will tries to identify the killer from practically nonexistent clues. There are suspenseful moments as Will and Nancy race against time-with inevitable romantic involvement, once Will stops scorning Nancy because of her weight-but long tedious stretches focus on Will being drunk, drinking on the job or complaining of hangovers. Flashbacks to 1947 and the medieval setting that inspired the killer are poorly integrated, and while the secret behind the deaths is original and clever, its revelation is anticlimactic. (Aug.)

Glenn Cooper is the author of the international bestseller Secret of the Seventh Son. He studied archaeology at Harvard before becoming a physician specializing in infectious diseases. After a career in research he became a biotechnology chief executive officer. He has written multiple screenplays and runs an independent film production company based in Boston. He lives in Massachusetts in one of the oldest houses in America.