Jim Lyon is a private Investigator who has a penchant for finding trouble. More often than not, his troubles result from trying to help his friends. In this case, he found more trouble than any man should have to face. He finds himself matching wits with a serial killer called The Butcher. Jim was ambivalent about The Butcher, being willing to leave that matter to the police, until The Butcher starts killing his friends. That made the killer's actions personal. The detective develops a computer program that allows shim to predict when the killer will strike again. The matching of wits takes on a more threatening aspect when the killer realizes he has a nemesis and accepts the challenge. However, the killer raises the stakes in the game by targeting Jim's friends. Three of his friends, Meg, Susan, and Flame are attacked by the madman, who has some decidedly supernatural capabilities. They each fight for survival in their own style as The Butcher is bent upon taking Jim's friends away from him. The detective is forced to use his wits and weapons to protect his friends and himself from a madman who grows bolder with each murder. While Jim can predict when the madman will strike, he must figure out how he travels through the city without being seen and how he can so easily escape capture.