Though he's still tormented by his brother's murder and the accident that ended his career, ex-homicide detective Liam Dempsey is trying to move on. His girlfriend and their adopted son are the best things that ever happened to him - and being a police liaison is the next best thing to being back on the force. But when an old friend asks for his help, Liam is thrust into a harrowing investigation that reawakens his darkest personal demons.A politician has been violently attacked, and his wife is kidnapped for ransom. But as police mobilize to track the victim and trap her abductor, the case takes a chilling turn from extortion to grisly murder. Whoever snatched Valerie Farrow wants blood and money - and they're brutally collecting.Working with, and against, the police, Liam is forced to dig deep to expose the ugly truth - even if it means digging his own grave in the process.