Distraught with the deaths of his wife and son at the hands of a serial killer, Detective Chief Inspector Daniel Redd took a year's leave. Driven with revenge Redd returns for duty, knowing he can gain inside information to track down the killer, nicknamed the Surgeon. Out for a morning's ramble, two young boys discover a gruesome murder. Redd and his new partner DS Felicity Dove are called to the scene. They are met with the strangely mutilated bodies of a young male and female. By their side is a pile of old bleached bones. Impaled on the male chest is a message written on parchment, the letters indecipherable. Redd suspects there is more than one perpetrator The whole scene smacks of ritual. After the police cuts it is difficult to find a profiler. The station counsellor recommends American forensic psychologist Doctor Tessa Davies, who is researching a new approach to profiling. A group of walkers stumble over the grisly remains of another young couple. In desperation, Redd asks Tess to join the team. The body count is rising, the crimes bizarre. Little do they realize the perpetrators have just begun. Their plans unimaginable.