In desperation she began to shout for help and bang on the steel walls but everything just echoed round and round the nothingness chamber...........a loud noise behind her made her jump. It was a constant sound, like a motor of some kind, but she couldn’t be sure..........warily she walked towards the sound in the pitch blackness with her arms outstretched in front of her. Her hands found the ice cold wall again but there was something different about it, it was vibrating slightly, and it was moving. Her panic turned to horror when she realised: it was slowly moving towards her.

DI Rosemary Leach is used to dealing with the sicker side of life; rape, murder, violence; it comes with the job. But the events about to unfold take her down unfamiliar paths, paths that lead to the darkest of secrets; paths that lead to an evil, sadistic mind. Given the option she would not have walked those paths but she has no choice, fate has dictated that she must tread them, regardless where they lead.

She doesn’t always walk these paths alone, DS Jennifer Preston treads with her; aiding, questioning, befriending, protecting; but there are some paths she has no choice but walk by herself and one which she never thought she’d have to walk again, ever.

She had no idea that what started as a simple, long overdue arrest would be the beginning of a series of sickening events that would have her question her skills, her abilities, her resolve. But is there any connection between the events unfolding before her? Is this revenge or coincidence? Why the graffiti and what is its significance? More disturbingly: how many more must die before she understands?