In coastal Santa Rita, California, the horrifyingly similar murdersof three woman has the District Attorneys office reeling, and the rising political heat only adds to the juggling act of Assistant D.A. Kathryn Mackay a divorced mother determined to make her mark in a testosterone-driven field. but when shes tepped to lead the investigation, mackay discovers that everyone in an agenda: the ratings-hungry TV newsman who knows more about the D.A.s moves than any outsider should; the brilliant mind-hunter from the state capital, whos eager to apply his psychological profiling techniques; and the killer himself, who begins to send Mackay cryptic, taunting notes. "Run, run, as fast as you can. You cant cath me, Im the Gingerbread man." And run she does after false leads and obscure clues, though a gauntlet of media and political pressure, into the dark tunnels of the killers brain. As mackay closes in, she must fight the suffocaing fear that shes engaged in a deadly pas de deux with her killer, whos carefully stalking fourth victim: her.