when young women begin mysteriously disappearing in oregon police lieutenant james stovall leads a relentless search for a killer with little evidence available and the public screaming for answers he must find a remorseless brutal killer whose identity will shock them all one by one the young women vanished without a trace pretty linda slawson disappeared while trying to make a living selling encyclopedias door to doorlovely college girl jan whitney never completed her twohour drive home on the freewaybeautiful premed honor student karen sprinker failed to show up for a lunch date with her motherstunningly attractive linda salee dropped out of sight while her boyfriend waited and worried for hoursby then the pattern was clear oregons massive police search was under way but not even lt james stovall the brilliant investigator in charge suspected how grisly the crimes were or who the man who killed like a sadistic monster would turn out to be rule springs surprises and rvelations with a novelists skill seattle times