The New York Times bestselling author of The Empty Chair and The Devil's Teardrop, is back displaying his "ticking-bomb suspense" (People) in this never-before-published thriller.

Every New York City neighborhood has a story, but what John Pellam uncovers in Hell's Kitchen has a darkness all its own. The Hollywood location scout and former stuntman is in the Big Apple hoping to capture the unvarnished memories of longtime Kitchen residents such as Ettie Washington in a no-budget documentary film. But when a suspicious fire ravages the elderly woman's crumbling tenement, Pellam realizes that someone might want the past to stay buried.

As more buildings and lives go up in flames, Pellam takes to the streets, seeking the twisted pyromaniac who sells services to the highest bidder. But Pellam is unaware that the fires are merely flickering preludes to the arsonist's ultimate masterpiece, a conflagration of nearly unimaginable proportion, with Hell's Kitchen -- and John Pellam -- at its blackened and searing epicenter.

杰夫里·迪弗一九五〇年出生于芝加哥，十一岁时写出了他的第一本小说，从此笔耕不辍。迪弗毕业于密苏里大学新闻系，后进入福德汉姆法学院研修法律。在法律界实践了一段时间后，他在华尔街一家大律师事务所开始了律师生涯。他兴趣广泛，曾自己写歌唱歌，进行巡演，也曾当过杂志社记者。与此同时，他开始发展自己真正的兴趣：写悬疑小说。一九九〇年起，迪弗成为一名全职作家。

迄今为止，迪弗共获得六次 MWA（美国推理小说作家协会）的爱伦·坡奖提名、一次尼禄·沃尔夫奖、一次安东尼奖、三次埃勒里·奎因最佳短篇小说读者奖。迪弗的小说被翻译成三十五种语言，多次登上世界各地的畅销书排行榜。包括名作《人骨拼图》在内，他有三部作品被搬上银幕，同时他也为享誉世界的詹姆斯·邦德系列创作了最新官方小说《自由裁决》。

迪弗的作品素以悬念重重、不断反转的情节著称，常常在小说的结尾推翻，或者多次推翻之前的结论，犹如过山车般的阅读体验佐以极为丰富专业的刑侦学知识，令读者大呼过瘾。其最著名的林肯·莱姆系列便是个中翘楚。另外两个以非刑侦专业人员为主角的少女鲁伊系列和电影外景勘测员约翰·佩拉姆系列也各有特色，同样继承了迪弗小说布局精细、节奏紧张的特点，惊悚悬疑的气氛保持到最后一页仍回味悠长。

除了犯罪侦探小说，作为美食家的他还有意大利美食方面的书行世。