In actual fact, serial killing can be learned; it isn't necessarily done compulsively by lunatics. Paul Rushmore's body looks like someone beat it to death with a ball-peen hammer and then cut away a piece of his scalp. But the medical examiner says the damage was done by somebody's fists. The body is the only hard evidence that Detective Artie Murdoch of the Reno Police Department has to go on. With nowhere else to look, he brings Mack Chapman, a hand-to-hand combat expert, into the case as a consultant. He knows the martial arts culture and most of the community in the Reno Area. Perhaps he can see what others can't and shed light. By all accounts, Rushmore was an excellent fighter on his feet as well as on the ground. But he was also arrogant and cruel. His every action and spoken word seemed calculated to offend. And he carried his hubris into the business world where he owned a chain of karate schools in Nevada and California. He was known for stirring up animosity among his competitors and had made enemies. Though the evidence is scarce, it tells its story. Mack reasons that someone had challenged Paul to a duel of empty hands, a duel to the death. As the investigation continues, more and more data indicates that the killer is a disciplined professional who may be setting up another fight. Add to that other scalped and mutilated bodies on record in Las Vegas and Sacramento, Mack concludes they're looking for a serial killer. When a second brutalized body shows up, Mack and Detective Murdoch look closely to determine if it's the work of their killer. But before they can, a third victim lands in the morgue. Is it their man's handiwork or that of a copycat? Or, is it just the aftermath of a back street brawl? As Mack and Murdoch forge ahead, the killer misjudges his circumstances. Mistaking Mack for a policeman who is close to arresting him, he lures him to an abandoned shopping mall where he assaults him. Though Mack is skilled, he's no match for the killer, and all too soon he's being choked unconscious. Did I die? Mack wonders as he watches two men grappling from above them. But how can this be? At the last second, the killer deliberately releases the hold. In another second Mack feels himself being drawn back to his body. As he recovers, the killer tells him: "Dyin' like that takes the fear away. You ain't alive if you're afraid o' dyin'." But why does the killer let him live? Now Mack senses the man's presence as if he's stalking him. More and more he realizes he's somehow being corralled. But why? And how? Whatever the reason, Mack has to find it, and fast. Click on "Look inside" above and get a better feel for it.