Dozens of identical shoes have washed up on the beach in the quiet resort town of Sanibel Island, Florida. They appear completely ordinary but for one thing - each contains a crudely severed human foot.

Faced with an incomprehensible puzzle and ever more confusing pathology reports, the local police call on FBI Special Agent A.X.L. Pendergast for his expertise. But with no answers and endless possibilities they are left with only questions: What has happened, and why? Where have the ...