Introduction

The killings began in May when the body of a young teacher was discovered in the bedroom of her historic Society Hill home of Philadelphia. The second victim was found seven days later. The number of victims grew incrementally during the uncomfortably wet and humid Spring and Summer. Each of the victims surgically mutilated by a madman possessing the skills of a surgeon.

The Killer and the City

In a city renowned for its medical institutions and thousands of medically-trained professionals, one among them was a killer. For Captain Leo Gromski, of the Special Homicide Unit, the pursuit of a phantom leads to the most shocking revelation a persistent investigator could conceptualize.

The Conspiracy

The identity of the killer leads Gromski down the path to the Roach Motel of conspiracies: its tentacles stretching from Philadelphia's City Hall to the United States State Department.