From New York Times bestselling author Karin Slaughter, the first novel in her acclaimed Grant County Series. Interweaving knife-edge tension, superb characterization, and an evocative milieu, this thrilling novel of dark suspense, set in rural Grant County, Georgia, introduces engaging pediatrician and coroner, Dr. Sara Linton.

A sadistic rapist turned killer is terrorizing Grant County, and the chief of police, Sara's ex-husband Jeffrey Tolliver, must find him. But he's not alone. Lena Adams--the county's sole female detective--wants to see justice done, since her sister was the first victim. Sara, too, cannot escape the terror. A secret from her past could hold the key to finding the killer--unless he finds her first.