When Jazz Phillips heads for North Padre Island, the last thing on his mind is murder. All he wants is a sunny day, a cloudless sky, and a chance to skinny-dip in the Gulf with the love of his life. Yet on the beach he finds a young woman washed up on shore and it is quickly apparent she's been viciously murdered. Jazz is glad it's not his case and he is happy to hand it over to the FBI and get back to his vacation. Even so, the case is not done with Jazz. The FBI identifies the victim as a young woman from West Memphis, Arkansas, and asks his help. As head of the Arkansas CID he can scarcely refuse and when the man he assigns to the case doesn't work out, Jazz becomes directly involved himself. When he does, he finds himself up to his neck in the strangest case of his police career. For what looks like a savage murder is only the tip of the iceberg. A savage killer is at work, leaving bodies strewn from South Texas to Florida. Yet the real challenge for Jazz is not running down the killer. He's done this many times before. The problem is that Jazz is burnt out and with no warning he finds himself in the midst of a devastating crisis. Nor is there much he can do about it. Everything Jazz believes comes into question, things from his past come back to haunt him, and the case becomes very personal. When it does, it threatens to destroy Jazz and everything he holds dear.