Mere hours after witnessing the execution of a killer he helped put behind bars, Alex Cross is called to the scene of a copycat murder. A note signed 'M' rests on the corpse: 'You messed up big time, Dr. Cross.'

 

Was an innocent man just put to death? As the executed convict's family launches a vicious campaign against Cross, his abilities as a detective are called into question.

 

The enigmatic 'M' lures Cross out of Washington, DC to the sites of multiple homicides, all marked with distressingly familiar details that conjure up decades-old cases and Cross family secrets.

 

Details that make it clear M is after a prize so dear that – were the killer to attain it – Cross's life would be destroyed.