The murderer, dubbed "The Harlot" by the media, was on a brutal killing spree that had moved from St. Louis to southern Illinois. By all indications, The Harlot appeared to be a woman, but there was something odd that Detective Frank Powell couldn't quite understand about the killer's motivations. The Harlot didn't seem to target any discernible "type" of victim. Women and men alike seemed to be in the murderer's crosshairs.

But, as Powell would soon find out, there was a reason The Harlot was the most unpredictable serial killer he had ever come across. For The Harlot was both killer and victim in a compassionless society, and Frank Powell would come to understand that some monsters are not born, but created.

And he had to stop her before it was too late.