Doctor Sara Linton is pulled into an investigation with detectives Will Trent and Faith Mitchell when her latest patient, a woman who was brutally tortured, is brought in to the ER, and together the trio unlocks a series of clues that lead to other victims and a sadistic killer.

A victim was buried alive in the Georgia woods--then killed in a horrifying fashion. When medical examiner Sara Linton and her ex-husband, police chief Jeffrey Tolliver stumble upon the body, both become consumed with finding out who killed the pretty, impeccably dressed young woman. And for Sara and Jeffrey, a harrowing journey begins, one that will test their own turbulent relationship and draw dozens of lives into the case.

An apparent student suicide has brought medical examiner Sara Linton to the local college campus, along with her ex-husband, police chief Jeffrey Tolliver. But a horribly mutilated corpse yields up few answers. And a suspicious rash of subsequent "suicides" suggests that a different kind of terror is stalking the youth of Heartsdale, Georgia-a nightmare that is coming to prey on Sara Linton's loved ones. A small town is being transformed into a...