Herman Girtler grew up with an abusive, alcoholic foster father, which molded him into the man he is, living in present-day New York City. He has extreme obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, and it's only a matter of time before he snaps. Finally, Herman strangles someone to death, and he becomes the target of a citywide manhunt.
On his tail are partners Cornelius "Corny" Prince and Kristina "Del" DelVecchio. They strive to bring their A-game to every investigation, yet they have issues of their own. Corny is still fighting to forgive himself for the untimely, accidental death of his wife. Del was once an Olympic hopeful, now kept at home by a severely ailing mother.
Herman takes his killing too far when he murders a cop. Now, this serial killer has become law enforcement's most wanted. The investigation moves from New York to New Jersey-from present to painful past. Herman will not stop killing until he's caught, but Corny's investigation is now personal-and if he has to, he'll take this sociopath out single-handedly.