A cunning killer. Two determined detectives. A race against time. He stalks the streets of Atlanta, a serial murderer who strikes the most vulnerable and takes sickening souvenirs--all without leaving a trace. Who is he? And can he be stopped before he kills his next victim? Still recuperating from a gunshot earned during his last brush with evil, cowboy Detective Lieutenant Noah McGraw has no idea he'll be faced with his greatest challenge yet--or that his relationship with his partner, Detective Sergeant Holly Roark, will be put to the test. Their budding feelings are intensifying, possibly building to marriage, but will their love prove to be a dangerous distraction out in the field? The officers of Atlanta PD's Homicide Division have seen their share of clever killers, but this particular predator is on a whole new level. When Noah and Holly are put on the case, they immediately hit a dead end--at scene after scene, the killer has struck without leaving a shred of evidence behind, somehow defying the laws of forensic science. Three elderly women are dead, their tongues cut out. What does The Tongue Collector want with these trophies? And when will he strike again? Sooner or later, Noah knows, the killer will slip up. They always do. Will Noah and Holly uncover the truth before it's too late, or will they find themselves in the crosshairs of a cunning psychopath yet again?