The last thing homicide detective Joe Erickson needs is to get involved in murder investigation. On a medical leave from Chicago PD after developing acute stress disorder, he has returned to his hometown in Iowa to settle his father's estate.

But when he learns two teenage girls in neighboring towns have been abducted, murdered, and found posed nude along a riverbank, he takes notice. And when his former lover and criminal profiler is brought in to consult, she talks him into joining the investigation.

Known for employing unorthodox methods, Joe throws himself headlong into a case that will test his mental stamina. But when his neighbor's daughter is abducted, his razor-sharp intuition and keen investigative skills kick into high gear as he races against time to find her before she becomes the killer's third victim.