A middle-aged writer has a visit from his ex-wife in the middle of the night, and she tells him she's missing. Sure enough, after she vanishes from the porch and goes looking in her apartment, she and her new husband are nowhere to be found. Did smething happen in connection to the weird saucer cult with the donut shops she was part of? He and his brother and his brother's girlfriend and a young freelance reporter dig in, and find a whole nest of snakes willing to torture and kill to keep their gravy train going. 

Terrific mystery thriller from the master.