Alex Cross' past bubbles up and gives him a chance to try and solve the murder of his wife Maria a number of years earlier. A series of murders and killing start building a pattern that is not completely unfamiliar to Alex. As he is brought onto the case, he starts to feel a chance to capture the man, who shot and killed his wife Maria, giving him a chance to deal with his own feelings of guilt.

The serial killer is in the form of Michael Sullive, a hired assassin of the mob who has the deadly monicker of the Butcher because of the way he slashes up his victims. Most of his crimes start as a rape. He threatens his victims by taking their address books and PDAs while showing them pictures of his past "work." This is more than enough to convince most of them to hold their tongues.

Nana Mama also reaches the end of her limits with the fact that Alex continuously places his career over being there for his family. Besides placing all of them in danger because of the closeness he has to many of the most horrifyin killers, the kids are starting to feel secondary. She tells him that she is done with it, bringing about an adjustment of his career choices.

He does make adjustments, but he still feels the need to stay involved in this case because of the chance to bring his wife's murderer to justice.

The story is just as face-paced as previous books in the series. I, personally, felt a little cheated at the conclusion, but I really can't tell you why. It doesn't ruin the way I feel about the book. It is still really good.