Mental issues (he has an inner voice which he communicates with), alcohol abuse, and the tedium of pursuing psychopathic killers, leave Sean Rooney a pathetic man, a failed forensic profiler, a bit of a loser and definitely retired. DCI Jacqueline Kaminski has other ideas. Faced with a multiple murder - and some headless corpses - she needs psychosleuth Rooney back on the case. Rooney is used by Johnston, an academic with a twist. He turns the tide on Johnston at the culmination of the book, leading on to the next in the series, The Family where Rooney realises, in order to rise above his failure, he needs to use others as Johnston did.
