Publisher's Synopsis
When two social workers appear at Brenda Scupham's door, saying that they must take her seven-year-old daughter Gemma away for tests, her fear of authority leads her to comply meekly with their requests. It is only when they fail to return Gemma that Brenda realizes something has gone terribly wrong. For Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks ritual Satanic abuse is a dreadful possibility. At the same time Banks is investigating a decidedly grisly murder, and gradually the leads in the two cases converge, leading Banks to a truly terrifying villain.
