When a serial killer terrorizes New York, the police form a Task Force to hunt down this madman. Ten murders in ten months. No witnesses. No physical evidence. Not many leads. A commonality among the suspects can't be established. Worse still are the rumblings in the media and the political arena that the culprit may be a current or former member of law enforcement.

Venerable Detective Joe Devlin is charged with leading the investigation. But can he rely on the word of a former informant? How far should he push to in probing a senator and his son? Is his neighbor a legitimate suspect?

While considering all of this, Devlin must decide if bringing the murderer to justice is his endgame, or is there another outcome that the leader of the Task Force has an appetite for?