A predator is killing little girls. And Houston Detective Jack Briggs knows there will be no peace for him until he stops the monster. He knows he's the only one who can. Two little girls have been abducted and killed, their bodies found wrapped in blankets, holding teddy bears, and cleaned with bleach to destroy any forensic evidence. The investigation is going nowhere until the third intended victim miraculously escapes. But little Amanda Hunt is a traumatized 4-yearold girl and Briggs has to make sense of the only clue she gives him: It was cold. It was really cold.' When FBI Special Agent Rachel Sullivan arrives, Briggs' job becomes all the more diffi cult. The FBI is sure that the Houston child murders are connected to eight more in fi ve different states. Whether Briggs likes it or not, Sullivan becomes part of the Houston Police Department's Major Crimes Task Force. Also on the special task force are Detective Tom Gannon, an easygoing Irishman who is Briggs' new partner, and Dr. Jim Holloway, the HPD psychiatrist. Briggs and Holloway have a long, complicated relationship, tied to the HPD Boys' Ranch and retired HPD cop Leo Hagen. While the task force moves forward with its investigation, the killer watches from the outside. He reads the newspaper articles, watches the TV news coverage of the child murders, is fl attered that the FBI has become involved, and plans his next murder. And he delights in knowing he has a secret that gives him an advantage over Briggs. A secret that he uses to stay a step ahead of Briggs in the deadly game that they're playing. A deadly game that he intends to win. But what the killer doesn't know is that Briggs is willing to risk everything, call up his past demons to stop him. Because Briggs knows it'll take a monster to stop a monster.