DI John Hunter is a mess, having fouled up badly with the latest victim of the Badger - a panty-sniffing serial killer who exsanguinates his victims and carves a symbol on their foreheads - a symbol designed with malicious intent that he fully expects Hunter to solve - eventually. He rings Hunter and taunts him, but omits to tell John that he and his family are to be the final targets - his retribution. Hunter realises that the killer must be someone he knows from a previous case, but though he goes through the long list of murderers he has helped imprison he cannot remember. Jane, his new partner, suggests hypnosis, and after undergoing a session the name comes back to him.Though he now knows who the perpetrator is he is no nearer locating him, and the murders continue until the killer decides the time is right to escalate his operation and kidnap Hunter's ex-wife, Anita. He rings the detective to goad him again and tells him he has just six days to find her before she dies of thirst.Hunter enlists the help of friends, but time is running out for Anita, who has lost consciousness and is close to death. Even when John gets almost within touching distance of her, he is still helpless.The killer is watching it all, enjoying the spectacle. The odds are high in his favour...