Not What It Seems

Crime writer Nikki Gillette and her husband, Detective Pierce Reed, race to expose an obsessive killer with an enigmatic M.O. . . .

The stone is small and round, easy to miss among the junk surrounding Billy Huber’s body. The man was a hoarder for sure. At first, police assume he fell from a ladder, injuring his throat and smashing his head in the process. Only on closer inspection do they see the polished stone nearby, with a number on one side etched in blood, and a strange symbol on the other.

Reporter Nikki Gillette seizes on the story and visits Huber’s sprawling property in Georgia’s low country. She gains little except the uneasy feeling of being watched. Within days, another body is found—a wealthy, thrice-married Savannah socialite dead in her lavish home. More victims follow, each one pierced through the throat. Beside each body, a stone engraved with a different number and symbol.

Detective Pierce Reed, Nikki’s husband, cautions her against getting in too deep. She’s a mother now and can’t keep putting herself in danger. Nikki knows he’s right, but her instincts are in overdrive. This is what she’s good at—finding answers and driving toward justice at any cost. Yet she knows, too, that the most terrifying killers don’t look like monsters at all. And by the time you realize how close they really are, it may already be too late to save yourself.