A serial killer is targeting young Vanderbilt University coeds, one of whom is the daughter of a major university benefactor and Texas oilman. Lt. Taylor Jackson, Nashville cop, and Dr. Samantha Owens, medical examiner, face a huge public relations nightmare. Taylor, struggling with departmental strife, is asked to partner with troubled FBI profiler Dr. John Baldwin, who is back in Tennessee after a disastrous investigation accident. Owens is perplexed...

Dr. Samantha Owens is starting over: new city, new job, new man, new life. She's trying to put some distance between herself and the devastating loss of her husband and children--but old hurts leave scars.

Before she's even unpacked her office at Georgetown University's forensic pathology department, she's called to consult on a case that's rocked the capital and the country. An unknown pathogen released into the Washington Metro has...