Nashville Homicide lieutenant Taylor Jackson is working to catch a serial rapist after a local girl falls prey to a sadistic killer. The Southern Strangler is slaughtering his way through the Southeast, leaving a gruesome memento at each crime scene—the prior victim's severed hand. Taylor finds herself in a joint investigation with her lover, FBI profiler Dr. John Baldwin, as they pursue the vicious murderer.

Ambitious TV reporter Whitney Connolly is certain the Southern Strangler is her ticket out of Nashville; she's got a scoop that could break the case. But she has no idea how close to this story she really is—or what it will cost her.

Battling an old injury and her own demons, Taylor is desperate to quell the rising tide of bodies. But as the killer spirals out of control, everyone involved must face a horrible truth—the purest evil is born of private lies.