Henry Parker's life is looking up. He just landed his dream job as a reporter at the renowned New York Gazette, has a great girlfriend, and the world at his fingertips. Henry is smart. Ambitious. Determined. He's ready to take the world by storm. But Henry's dream is about to turn into a nightmare.... On his first assignment, a man ends up dead, and Henry finds himself on the run and accused of murder. On his trail is a dogged cop who wants to see Henry behind bars, and a ruthless, demented assassin who wants to see Henry dead. Henry's only hope of survival is a woman he barely knows.

As most of New York City sleeps, Athena Paradis, one of the most glamorous and desired women in the world, steps onto the red carpet at an exclusive nightclub. Suddenly a shot rings out, and Athena dies amidst hundreds of cameras and spotlights. When Henry Parker begins to investigate the famous starlet's death, another public murder shakes the city to its core. Both murders appear to be more like executions. And Henry discovers a shocking link between the two murders, and to a man who seems to be taking his cue from one of the most notorious killers in history.

Five years ago, young Daniel Linwood disappeared without a trace. There were no ransom demands. His body was never found. His family had presumed him dead and moved on after the devastation. But five years after his disappearance, Daniel Linwood suddenly appeared at his parents' front door. Without a scratch. And with no memory of the last five years.... Reporter Henry Parker is granted the first interview with Daniel Linwood's family. But in talking to Daniel, he realizes that there are similarities between the boy's disappearance and a number of child abductions.

Henry Parker left his old life behind years ago - a broken home and shattered lives are little more than a bad memory. Since then he has forged a great career, saved lives, revealed monsters in our midst, and fallen in love with a wonderful woman. But all that comes crashing down when Henry learns that his old life isn't through with him yet. Not by a long shot . . . When a man named Stephen Gaines is found dead, shot point-blank in a rat-hole apartment, wasted by hunger and heroin, Henry sadly assumed he was the victim of another drug deal gone bad. 

A young man is found murdered, his bones crushed nearly to dust before his body was dumped into New York's East River. In New York there are hundreds of murders a year, but this one is different. Somebody is sending a message. And shockingly, the victim has ties to a man very close to Henry Parker. The murder ties into a case that has the city paralyzed with fear: A vicious drug kingpin is looking to take back the city, and this death is just the beginning.