A grizzled FBI investigator igets a second chance to leap on the trail of a serial killer he has been chasing for years, but this time he is helped by a young female investigator with whom he develops an unexpectedly close bond. Mark and Allison are investigators - Mark being with the FBI - on a murder case together in San Marco. She is a young and pretty woman in her late twenties and he is a famous investigator and profiler in his early forties. While they are on the hunt for a long sought after murderer after a young woman is found viciously butchered, the focus of the story is the developing relationship between the two of them. The entire investigation is a vehicle for the couple to learn how to work together and trust each other as they begin to feel an attraction that they are afraid to act on.
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Mark begins to trust Allison's instincts as she acts on her intuition frequently and successfully, despite not having the extensive training that Mark has. Mark's knowledge of the murderer's patterns and his ability to guess what might happen next sets the team on a tight time frame - they likely only have a couple weeks before the next female victim is killed while jogging out in the wilderness somewhere. They chase down possible leads together, combining Allison's energy with Mark's experience, experiment with hypotheticals about how the murderer could be trying to get to his next victim and get new clues into the angles from which to approach analyzing the murderer and what he might do next. Meanwhile the forensic lab lifts DNA samples from previous murder victims, revealing tiny tissues and semen stains on clothes that match those found on the most recent victim. They are assisted in this by Jordan, a victim who escaped murder and can describe the murderer.
When they find that the killer has been sending taunting letters to the fathers of the women he raped and murdered, they begin to trace him by using the letters. It looks like the murderers could be Damien and David Moss, a pair of brothers who employed one of the previous victims and match Jordan's hazy description. Damien Moss' DNA appears to match the murderer's to some degree, but David Moss won't help them find him (Damien has been missing lately). Mark and Allison work closely with the overworked police department throughout their investigation. Allison is constantly trying to match Mark and not allow him to assert dominance over her, while also observing him and seeing that at the pace he works, he'll work himself into an early and lonely grave. Mark is obsessed with his job and is still hurting from his past divorce, which was caused by his workaholic tendencies. He also carries with him a lingering pain from his mother's death when he was a child. Allison is a balm to his old wounds with her combination of nurturing nature and fierce, fresh attitude. He looks down on her at the beginning of the investigation, but slowly starts to see her as an equal later on. Similarly, Allison begins to feel more comfortable in her own skin when around Mark, and stops trying to prove that she can beat him at everything.
Things come to a head when Allison recklessly decides to chase after Damien Moss on her own when it's learned that he's somewhere in northeast Texas, the same area where the next suspected woman, a girl named Lauren, complained that her hair had been chopped off when she was drunk at a party and that a man seemed to be stalking her (all classic patterns with this killer). To ensnare Damien, Allison dresses up like Lauren and cuts her hair, and goes jogging in the woods at the time Lauren is supposed to, but makes sure Lauren stays indoors. Mark finds out what Allison plans to do by phoning Lauren and flies in, worried about Allison. The murderer brings down Allison with a rock to the head and chases her as she gets to her feet and runs through the woods. When she turns to face him and fight him near the parking lot, it turns out it is Damien Moss after all, and he really is a psychopath. His brother is ignorant of the truth, he says, but he has always found great pleasure in raping and killing young women. When he finds out that it is not Lauren, he shrugs and says Allison will do nicely. Just as he's about to strangle her, Mark appears, pulling her off him. In the ensuing struggle, he shoots Damien twice, but only to incapacitate him. The police cars arrive then, and take him into custody. Allison limps off to an ambulance with Mark holding her. The case solved, Allison convinces Mark that their age gap is nothing major (she is 27, he is 43) and that she loves him and only him, finally making him confess the same. Allison and Mark begin a relationship.
Best part of story, including ending:
I liked the amazing inside look at how the police and forensics teams work and how hard they work.
Best scene in story:
When Jordan's loving husband Ethan cradles her and reassures her that she is not to blame and has nothing to fear, because he will take care of her and make sure the rapist is caught.
Opinion about the main character:
I loved Mark's dedication to his job and selfless love for Allison. I disliked Allison's impulsive recklessness.
