Sprung from a prison in the centre of a star, the universe's last criminal is employed to kill the entire population of a planet. And leave the planet itself intact. It is a crime that will tear apart an interstellar utopia that has existed for centuries. Across known space engineered humans live lives of idle contentment, their every need catered for by the nano-tech machines that teem in their blond.
To keep ahead of detection while the crime is prepared the killer voyages to the numerous worlds where, in exotic and varied landscapes, mankind searches for the excitement of a new experience. And all the time the killer is re-awakening the instincts required for murder. And wondering who is behind the contract. In a society that has forgotten how to commit crime, who could possibly aspire to genocide?