John Costello and girlfriend Nadia became victims of the deranged "Hammer of God" killer who terrorized Jersey City throughout the summer of 1984. This murderer went after young courting couples in an attempt to "save their souls." Nadia was killed, but John survived. Physically and psychologically scarred, he withdrew from society and now only emerges to work as a crime researcher for a major newspaper. No one in New Jersey knows more about serial killers than John Costello. So, when a new spate of murders starts--all seemingly random and unrelated--he is the only one who can discern the pattern that lies behind them. But could this dark knowledge threaten his own life?