The first body, that of a young woman, is found on a Minneapolis riverbank, her throat cut, her body scourged and put on display. Lucas Davenport with the Minneapolis Bureau of Criminal Apprehension knows that whoever did this is pushed by brain chemistry. There is something wrong with him. This isn’t a love affair gone bad.

The second body is found three weeks later in a farmhouse six miles south. Same condition, same display—except this time it is a man. Nothing to link the two victims, nothing to indicate that the killings end here.

“This guy…” Lucas says. He took a deep breath and let it out as a sigh. “This guy is going to bust our chops.” 

And soon he's going to do far worse than that…