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Critics' Opinion:
Readers' Opinion:
First Published:
Jan 2004, 352 pages
Paperback:
Jan 2005, 464 pages
A small-town cop must get to the bottom of one of the greatest conspiracies of our time. As he attempts to unravel the puzzle, he finds that everyone seems to be one step ahead of him, disposing of witnesses and setting him up for the fall.
Whenever this word is whispered someone dies...
APHRODITE
It looked for all the world like a terrible, tragic accident. Susanna Morgan had gotten up in the middle of the night, tripped, fallen, and broken her neck. Yet when detective Justin Westwood inspects the victim's apartment, he can't help noticing that the details don't quite add up. The glass on the bedside table is knocked over but there are no cuts on her body. The scrape on her knee looks suspiciously fresh. And then a terrified witness comes forward, confirming his worst fear. This is no accident. This is murder.
Why would anyone want Susanna dead? A reporter for a local newspaper, she worked on only one controversial article, an obituary for an elderly former film star. An irate fan had complained that she'd gotten her facts wrong--but that's not the sort of mistake that normally brings a pair of professional hit men to your door, or the FBI to town.
Justin Westwood moved to East End Harbor to escape a dark, disturbing past, and to lead a quiet life. He had retreated from reality by taking a menial post with a small-town Long Island police department, drowning his troubles in mindless traffic duty and lots of booze. Now his dormant professionalism is awakened after Susanna's brutal murder. Attempting to unravel the puzzle, wending his way through a maze that leads him toward a project run by a sinister, powerful cabal, Justin finds that everyone--the cops, the FBI, and one of the strangest professional killing teams ever seen--seems to be one step ahead of him, disposing of witnesses, and setting him up for the fall.
This is just the kind of reality check that Justin needs, and he will stop at nothing to get to the bottom of this madness--to find the meaning of the mysterious "Aphrodite"--and maybe save himself in the process.
By the bestselling author of Gideon and Icarus, Aphrodite is a thriller of terrifying plausibility--a story of one man's redemption and a tale of dizzying suspense and fantastic twists that will capture your imagination as it refuses to let you go.
Washington, D.C.
February 23
She knew there were no monsters.
And yet, when the lights were out, she also knew that there were.
It's why she screamed when she heard the footsteps. There was a quick flurry, someone running—no, darting, that's the way it sounded, definitely darting—and then there was a crash, glass being shattered, a piece of pipe, perhaps, swung against the ugly overhanging fluorescent light. Everything turned shadowy; the whole room was suddenly fifty percent darker than it had been. Then, almost before she could register what was happening, there were more footsteps, on the other side of the garage—how did he get over there so fast? It didn't seem possible—and another crash, another light smashed, and then it was dark. Not just darker this time, but completely dark. She couldn't see her hand right in front of her face.
It was absolutely quiet, too. Black and silent.
And suddenly there it was.
The feeling.
Even under normal...
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