Inspector Renzo Dante has never witnessed a crime scene as vicious as the bizarre ritualistic killing at the San Francisco Opera House. The strangely mutilated victim is the most famous winemaker in Napa Valley. He's also an old family friend. For Renzo, it's personal. The secret lies in Napa Valley--America's Eden. But before Inspector Dante can get there, he must cross swords with the politically powerful of San Francisco. And Inspector Dante doesn't play well with politicians. Pressured by time, hounded by the brass, resented by the Valley elite, Renzo follows his own unorthodox road through a labyrinth of politics, greed and lust to find a cold-blooded killer in the heat and dust of Napa Valley--where wine is thicker than blood. Somewhere in this intoxicating paradise, the killer waits. Like a serpent hidden in the vines. Watching through the scope of his high-powered rifle. And Renzo is in the crosshairs.