An expatriate Southerner, Michael Stone has an intensity that sets her apart; growing up, she would swim by night in the shiny Carolina water, unconcerned about the snakes below the surface. Fearlessness and solitude mark both her passion for her work and her arm's-length relationships with members of the opposite sex. So when she's called to testify in a high-profile custody battle between prominent surgeon Nathan Southworth and his less-than-stable wife, Sharon, she stands alone to speak for the children - who may or may not have been molested by their father. In the safety of Michael's office, the Southworth children confirm the worst. But in the midst of backlash mania, Michael's testimony is ignored, and the case is abruptly closed. Then the children are found murdered, lying in their beds in their mother's home, and Sharon Southworth is arrested for the crime. Professionally, Michael knows that Sharon loved her children more than her own life - and she is personally pulled into an adrenaline-charged search for a killer. Racing to sort fact from fiction, motive from manipulation, Michael consults the one man who can unlock the mind of a child molester: Alex B. Willy, a jailed perp who is a prisoner of his own obsession, and who offers chilling revelations. Then a shocking clue invades her own private life and puts her in the line of fire; someone is closing in on Michael, in silence and shadow, and with deadly intent.