A woman is brutally murdered, dismembered and scattered around the city. Identifying this woman is hard to do as there are no fingerprints, they were cut off by the murderer. Why would someone go through all of this to keep her identity unknown. That is the task that faces the police in Houston Texas need to figure out.

Gino Cataldi has demons that he tries to deal with, the death of his wife and an unruly son who has started taking drugs. Gino is on a path of revenge on those who supplied his son with the drugs. So between dealing with his son, who he has sent to rehab and a complicated case, he "steps over the line" and does the unthinkable. Gino also receives late night phone calls from a woman who knows about the murder and who did it. He is paired with Tip Denton, another unconventional cop and the two of them must search the clues to solve the case.

We find as the story goes on that there is corruption and it goes all the way to the newly elected president. A group of friends who come from the same town and will protect each other to the death. Deception, lies and coverups lead the detectives, Gino Cataldi and Tip Denton on a merry chase from their own boss, who is part of the group of friends, all the way to the president. When another woman is murdered the search for the murderer intensifies and time is running out as there is pressure from "above" to get this case solved.

I have read a few of Mr.Giammatteo's books and always enjoyed them. They are fast paced, suspenseful stories that keep the reader turning the page. I read in the back of the book that the author had some health issues, so had not written in awhile, in spite of that Mr.Giammatteo has written another keeper! If you love a police procedural and a who dunnit, then you can't go wrong with this novel! ( )