Lincoln and Amelia are recruited to track down a cargo ship carrying two dozen illegal Chinese immigrants, as well as the notorious human smuggler and killer known as the Ghost. But when the capture goes disastrously wrong, Lincoln and Amelia find themselves in a race to stop the Ghost before he can track down and murder the two surviving families who have vanished deep into the labyrinthine world of New York City's Chinese community. Over the next forty-eight hours the Ghost ruthlessly hunts for the families while Rhyme, aided by a policeman from mainland China, struggles to find them before they die and Sachs pursues a very different kind of policework - forming a connection with one of the immigrants that may have consequences going to the core of her relationship with her partner and lover, Lincoln Rhyme.

杰夫里·迪弗1950年出生于芝加哥,11岁时写出了他的第一本小说,从此再也没有搁下笔。作为一名诗人、记者,他不光自己写歌唱歌,还进行巡演。迪弗当过杂志社记者。为了成为《纽约时报》或者《华尔街日报》的法律记者,他去福德汉姆法学院学习,毕业后在法律界实践了一段时间,然后在华尔街一家大律师事务所开始了律师生涯。在这几年间,他开始写那种自己最喜欢读的悬疑小说。1990年起,迪弗成为一名全职作家。

迄今为止,迪弗共创作了22部小说,获得六次MWA(美国推理小说作家协会)的爱伦·坡奖提名,一次安东尼奖、三次埃勒里·奎因最佳短篇小说读者奖。2001年,《空椅子》一书获W．H．史密斯好书奖。2004年,因为《野兽花园》,迪弗被CWA(英国犯罪小说家协会)授予钢匕首奖。

迪弗的小说被翻译成35种语言,多次登上世界各地的畅销书排行榜,包括《纽约时报》、《泰晤士报》以及《洛杉矶时报》这样的大媒体。他的名作《人骨拼图》被环球电影制片公司拍摄成同名电影,由奥斯卡奖得主丹泽尔·华盛顿与安吉丽娜。朱莉联袂主演,《少女的坟墓》被HBO改编为电影《死寂》,由詹姆斯·加纳主演。另一部小说《蓝色骇客》的改编权亦已售出。

杰夫里·迪弗兴趣广泛。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。