Lucas Davenport is investigating a case when the trail leads to the disappearance of a Minnesota political fixer, then --- very troublingly --- to the Minneapolis police department, then --- most troublingly of all --- to a woman who could give Machiavelli lessons. She has very definite ideas about the way the world should work, and the money, ruthlessness and sheer will to make it happen. No matter who gets in the way.

As the crime spree of three teenagers cuts a swath through rural Minnesota, some of it captured on the killers’ cell phones and sent to a local television station, Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigator Virgil Flowers joins the growing army of cops trying to run them down. But even he doesn’t realize what’s about to happen next.

In the small Minnesota town of Deephaven, an entire family has been killed. To Lucas Davenport, the scene looks an awful lot like the kind of scorched-earth retribution he has seen in drug killings sometimes. But this is a seriously upscale town, and the husband was an executive vice president at a big bank. It just doesn’t seem to fit. Until it does.

The superstore chain PyeMart has its sights set on a Minnesota river town, but two very angry groups want to stop it: local merchants fearing for their businesses, and environmentalists predicting ecological disaster. The protests don't seem to be slowing the project, though, until someone decides to take matters into his own hands.

A house demolition leads to the discovery of the bodies of two girls wrapped in plastic. They disappeared in 1985 when Lucas Davenport was a young cop, and his bosses ultimately declared the case closed, though he never agreed. Now Davenport has a chance to investigate and finally learn the truth.

The haunting, unforgettable, ice-blooded thriller that introduced Lucas Davenport is so chilling that you're almost afraid to turn the pages and so mesmerizing you cannot stop.