Fifteen years ago, Chris Whitman went to jail for murdering his girlfriend. Propelled by a misguided sense of chivalry, he confessed. When the truth came out, Chris was released from prison, got married and changed his last name to Donatti. He also became a professional killer.

Peter Decker was the detective on the case, and over the years he and Donatti have kept in touch. But things become complicated when Terry, Donatti's wife, goes missing and Donatti himself disappears, leaving their 14-year-old son, Gabe, with no one to turn to except Peter and his wife, Rina Lazarus.

But Peter's search for Terry must share center stage with a gruesome murder. Was this unusually cruel and very dramatic murder the first signs of a serial killer? With lives hanging in the balance, Decker and his colleagues, Sergeant Marge Dunn and Detective Scott Oliver, need to find answers and fast.

As if juggling two investigations weren't enough for the lieutenant, things are becoming even more dangerous with his ­precarious home life. Peter wants to look after Terry's son. Yet who will protect his own family? Because if there's one thing he knows for sure, with a sociopath like Donatti on the loose, no one is ever really safe.