"Burner" is the study-in-motion of Isaac BenGurian, a cerebral, tortured man to whom both Socrates and Attila the Hun would offer a respectful nod. His grasp of the physical sciences, computer technology, and literature is unparalleled. But these 'tricks of the mind" do not nourish his pride, nor do they define him with any degree of accuracy. To know him, one must look to the nightmare of his personal history, and to the leisure-time pursuit for which he has developed a considerable passion: Isaac roots out modern-day 'monsters"-sociopaths who are above the law in every practical sense, men who rejoice in the abuse of their power-and revels in the simple joy of dispatching them. Attention to detail has always placed him beyond the reach of the law. But Isaac has just made the costly mistake of compassion, and his error has left a trail that is being followed by the crime family of his latest victim. And another, far more adept, tracker has taken up the trail: An 'artificial intelligence" program, developed by a humble Princeton scientist and funded by the US government, has been assigned to find him, and its analytical abilities far surpass his own.