Detective Lindsay Boxer vows to protect a young woman from a serial killer long enough to see her twenty-first birthday.When a distraught mother pleads with San Francisco Chronicle reporter Cindy Thomas to investigate the disappearance of her daughter Tara and baby granddaughter Lorrie, Cindy immediately loops in SFPD Sergeant Lindsay Boxer. The prime suspect is Tara's schoolteacher husband, Lucas Burke, but he tells a conflicting story that paints Tara as a wayward wife, not a missing person.While the city's chief medical examiner, Claire Washburn, harbours theories that run counter to the police investigation of the Burke case, Assistant District Attorney Yuki Castellano sizes up Lucas as a textbook domestic offender - until he puts forward a theory of his own that could connect the dots on a constellation of killings.As the case grows into something far bigger than any of them could have imagined, the four friends will need each other to help unpick the truth from a web of lies.

SFPD Sergeant Lindsay Boxer has sworn to defend against all enemies, foreign and domestic. As Lindsay prepares to celebrate her own daughter's birthday, she clashes with rising Chief Charlie Clapper over a family case. When a distraught mother pleads with Chronicle reporter Cindy Thomas to investigate the disappearance of her daughter, Tara, and baby granddaughter, Lorrie, Cindy immediately loops in SFPD. But Tara's schoolteacher husband, Lucas Burke, tells a conflicting story that paints Tara as a wayward wife, not a missing person. And there's reason to believe he may be telling the truth. While M.E. Claire Washburn harbors theories that run counter to the police investigation of the Burke case, ADA Yuki Castellano sizes Lucas up as a textbook domestic offender -- until he puts forward a theory of his own that unexpectedly connects the dots on a constellation of copycat killings. If what Lucas tells law enforcement has even a grain of truth, there isn't a woman in the state of California who's safe from the reach of such an unspeakable threat.

"Detective Lindsay Boxer vows to protect a young woman from a serial killer long enough to see her twenty-first birthday. When Tara Burke goes missing with her baby girl, all eyes are on her husband, Lucas. He paints her not as a missing person but a wayward wife--until a gruesome piece of evidence turns the investigation criminal. ADA Yuki Castellano sizes Lucas up as a textbook domestic offender ... who suddenly puts forward an unexpected suspect. If what Lucas tells law enforcement has even a grain of truth, there isn't a woman in the state of California who's safe"--

"When young wife and mother Tara Burke goes missing with her baby girl, all eyes are on her husband, Lucas. He paints her not as a missing person but a wayward wife--until a gruesome piece of evidence turns the investigation criminal. While Chronicle reporter Cindy Thomas pursues the story and ME Claire Washburn harbors theories that run counter to the SFPD's, ADA Yuki Castellano sizes Lucas up as a textbook domestic offender ... who suddenly puts forward an unexpected suspect. If what Lucas tells law enforcement has even a grain of truth, there isn't a woman in the state of California who's safe from the reach of an unspeakable threat."--