“Clock ticking…planet dying…animals weeping…rivers screaming.  Can’t you hear it?  Heat kills…”

GBI Special Agent Mac McCormack has never forgotten the Eco-Killer's cryptic messages or the day that the killer got away.  The Eco-Killer was known for taking two victims during a heat wave, killing one and leaving clues to the other’s location on the deceased.  Too many victims died, and now it has been almost five years since the last murder.

Rookie FBI agent Kimberly Quincy is determined she has what it takes to become a top agent.  While training, she comes upon the body of a woman.  Though she is told to back off and let the NCIS do their job, Kimberly is not as willing to walk away.  She asks for a leave of absence and teams up with Mac; her father, Pierce Quincy, a renowned FBI profiler; and Pierce’s partner and significant other, Rainie Conner.  The quartet knows one thing: if they don’t act fast, another victim will die.  Mac has all the clues to find the second missing woman, he knows how the Eco-Killer works, and this time he will not fail.  But, is there enough time?

The amount of military and forensic research that Lisa Gardner has put into her latest story is very apparent from the start.  I have to wonder if she didn’t sit in on an autopsy much like her character, Kimberly, does in the first few chapters.

Masses of details mix with the chilling plot and deliver a solid, fascinating romantic suspense.  Fans of the show NCIS will find themselves enjoying this look at the military and murder from another viewpoint. 

I wondered throughout the book if Rainie and Pierce had been introduced in a previous book.  Some readers will know them from THE THIRD VICTIM.  I, on the other hand, have some catching up to do.  While romance fans will appreciate Lisa Gardner’s latest, I feel that mystery lovers will appreciate it even more.  There is romance in the book, but it plays a lesser role than the serial killings.