The first corpse is found on the riverbank. The second in an isolated farmhouse. Both have been savagely beaten, the skin flayed from their bodies, their throats cut. For both victims, there's a DNA match. Charlie Pope, a convicted sex offender, has cut himself free from his court-imposed ankle bracelet and disappeared. Now all Davenport has to do is find him. But something doesn't smell right. The killings were calculated and methodical. Pope is of low mental intelligence, incapable of careful forethought and planning. All the evidence points to Pope - but Lucas Davenport has his doubts. To find the answers, he must track down his key suspect. And to do that, he'll need the help of the Big Three: three vicious serial killers locked up in the state security hospital. Three killers as cunning as they are deranged . . .