Chad Duquette's life has finally settled
into a comfortable routine after the horror of losing his wife and
unborn child in a random shoot-out. He putters about in his grandfather's
house in Dunston, New Hampshire; he plows out his neighbors' driveways
after snow storms; he responds to emergency calls as an EMT; and he
looks after his troubled stepbrother. He is also pursuing a new relationship
with a teacher.
But all that
vanishes in the winter morning he responds to a routine "hunter
shot" call. While attending the stricken man, Chad finds a
9MM pistol (hardly a hunting gun) in the man's hand, which Chad
puts into his med kit for safekeeping. Before the victim can be
moved, the man's buddy is murdered by a gun shot from the nearby
woods. After rushing the wounded man to a hospital, the EMT team
returns with the police to collect the body of his companion. But,
it has disappeared, along with Chad's med kit.
A few days later, another body is
found, shot by the same 9MM pistol that Chad had taken from the
first victim.
All of the
victims have one thing in common: a star-like pentagram tattooed
on their thighs. Chad discovers that the police are circling in
on him as the prime suspect because of the incriminating gun. He
must act quickly to find the connection between the victims, and
what the pentagram signifies, in order to clear himself.
But, he's too
late. His stepbrother disappears while hunting. The police attempt
to arrest Chad, but he takes off running-straight into the gun sight
of his adversary.
The macabre
discoveries and harrowing events that follow propel the reader along
as the tale races to its shocking conclusion.
