When he was in high school, Reed Cozen slept with his best friend's girlfriend, and that former best friend has suddenly shown up to pay him a visit. He never forgot Reed's betrayal, he never forgave him, and he is now the most wanted man in Philadelphia.

"The Pine Street Slasher" murdered half a dozen young gay men in the mid-nineties. "The Chaperon" brutally mutilated young couples in their beds at the turn of the millennium. "The Family Man" annihilated entire families without leaving any clues. None of these cases were ever solved. But Detectives James Bryant and Titus Baltimore believe all three serial murderers may be the same man.

They know his name, his next victim, they know almost everything there is to know, except how to stop him.