Book overview
Eventually, every story comes to an end.
Thomas Austin has three weeks until his daughter is born. Three weeks to finish the nursery, keep the peace at home, and finally put the badge away for good.
Then a priest is found murdered inside a confessional at St. Thomas Cathedral overlooking Elliott Bay. His throat has been cut and a decades-old NYPD case file placed beside the body. And on his right palm, a single carved word: AUSTIN.
The file is from Austin's first homicide as a rookie cop, the case that sent serial killer Alexi Chronich to prison for life. Chronich walked free six months ago after new DNA evidence ripped apart the original conviction. Now the people tied to that case are dying one by one: the defense team, the witnesses, even jurors.
Was Chronich innocent, or simply better at hiding the truth than the science was at finding it?
As bodies appear across Kitsap County and Seattle, Austin is forced to relive the case that shaped him. Each answer drags him closer to a past he'd hoped would stay buried. And when the killer's final target is revealed, Austin must face a truth he's avoided for twenty-five years.
Every story has an ending. The only mystery left is whether Thomas Austin can survive returning to where his began.
Thomas Austin has three weeks until his daughter is born. Three weeks to finish the nursery, keep the peace at home, and finally put the badge away for good.
Then a priest is found murdered inside a confessional at St. Thomas Cathedral overlooking Elliott Bay. His throat has been cut and a decades-old NYPD case file placed beside the body. And on his right palm, a single carved word: AUSTIN.
The file is from Austin's first homicide as a rookie cop, the case that sent serial killer Alexi Chronich to prison for life. Chronich walked free six months ago after new DNA evidence ripped apart the original conviction. Now the people tied to that case are dying one by one: the defense team, the witnesses, even jurors.
Was Chronich innocent, or simply better at hiding the truth than the science was at finding it?
As bodies appear across Kitsap County and Seattle, Austin is forced to relive the case that shaped him. Each answer drags him closer to a past he'd hoped would stay buried. And when the killer's final target is revealed, Austin must face a truth he's avoided for twenty-five years.
Every story has an ending. The only mystery left is whether Thomas Austin can survive returning to where his began.