Insane with grief, Professor Dennis Thomas blames Detective Christopher Sentz for the death of his wife and wants to kill him. In fact, Thomas shares his revenge plans with Ben Kincaid. Then someone fires seven bullets into the police officer. Against all advice and going on instinct, Kincaid decides to represent the troubled professor, who faces a charge of capital murder. Meanwhile, Kincaid's personal private detective, Loving, starts prying loose pieces of a shocking secret. Working in the shadows of the law, Loving risks his life to construct an entirely new narrative about Detective Sentz, Joslyn Thomas, and madness in another guise: the kind that every citizen should fear and no one will recognize--until it is too late.