"what if the monster the world fears... is the only one who can save it?vincent massa isn't just a killer. he's a poisoned legacy, a failed experiment, and a dying man racing against the clock to burn his mother's sins to ash. but when the roots of a generations-old bioweapon-crafted from his own blood-begin devouring the world, vinny must confront the unthinkable: the woman who turned him into a monster still pulls the strings from beyond the grave.haunted by the ghost of maria massa-the brilliant, ruthless scientist who grafted gardenias to his dna-vinny teams with a relentless journalist and the orphaned boy who holds the cure in his veins. together, they'll battle pharmatech's shadow empire through derelict lighthouses, salt-flat wastelands, and the ruins of a family empire built on corpses.but as mutated hybrids rise and the line between human and weapon collapses, vinny faces a choice: let the world burn to save the child he loves... or become the very thing he vowed to destroy.in a world where love is a liability and roots strangle deeper than guilt, time is running out.the gardenias are blooming.the serum is spreading.and the line between savior and monster has never been thinner.ready to dig into the roots of the dark?'victim number 22'-where science, sacrifice, and shattered love collide in a storm of glowing algae and bone-white roses."