A quiet New England town becomes the site of a grisly murder and assault, leaving a young man dead and his girlfriend in critical condition. Sam Cordell, head surgeon and medical examiner at the local hospital, senses something isn't quite normal about the attacker, but barely a day later, another woman is savagely assaulted and killed. With the realization that a maniac is on the loose, Sam, with the help of police chief Hank Walden and newspaper columnist Laura Kincaid, must unravel the mystery before additional murders occur, all the while unaware that Sam's own daughter, Jenny, might be next on the victim list