For centuries, warlike aliens have been visiting Earth and hunting humanity's best warriors. Their goals remain unknown. Having hunted down and killed their prey, these deadly hunters disappear as quietly as they arrived, leaving no trace behind them except a pile of dead bodies. When Roger Elliott encountered such a creature during the Vietnam War, he did not expect to survive. Nor did he expect that decades later he would be training the Reapers, a secret combat force assigned to Project Stargazer. Their goal: to catch one of these creatures, prove its existence, understand its technology and equalize the balance between hunters and prey. This original novel is the background to the events that formed the basis of the plot of the long-awaited film hit PREDATOR.