Haunted by a brutal childhood, forensic psychiatrist Dr. Claire Waters finds solace in helping other survivors of abuse. Her favorite patient, Rosa Sanchez, is finally getting her life together. So it’s a shock when Rosa is handcuffed and led away by a man Claire assumes is law enforcement. But as Claire soon realizes, Rosa has been abducted.
 
Claire turns to her friend Nick Lawler, a homicide detective in the NYPD. Nick will have to risk his career to find Rosa --- and a deranged criminal who reduces his victims to nothing but bones. A brilliant gamesman, the killer has been preparing for this moment all of his life --- when every letter is in place, every piece is in play --- and the object of his obsession, Dr. Claire Waters, is in the game. Win, lose or die...