Against the initial resistance of the Group, Frank travels to Portland, Oregon, to investigate a murder at an animal shelter. He meets with Jim Horn, a profiler and candidate for the Millennium Group. But Horn is distracted by his imminent divorce, and there is tension between him and Frank. When the killer strikes again, Horn is losing control, and Frank not only has to catch the killer who leaves grisly messages on his victims, but he has to contend with Horn as well who is more than ready to stop the murderer with terminal prejudice.

Forensic profiler Frank Black, a member of the private investigative organization Millennium Group, is asked to investigate a vigilante who uses newly released convicts to execute those he deems guilty.

Frank and Peter assist an FBI investigation when a mad bomber terrorizes Washington, D.C, by blowing up buildings then to come out looking like a hero, the bomber goes back into the wreckage to save victims. Frank and Peter help search for the bomber whose attention starved personality may be the key to his undoing.

At a Seattle cemetery, James Dickerson, a handsome 20-year-old, lurks outside the chapel during a college football player's funeral. After the mourners leave, James approaches the deceased's mother and sister. Calling himself "Ray Bell," he gains their trust by pretending to be a friend from college. He hugs the boy's grieving mother, savoring the hug in an unsettling way. That night, the mother visits the open grave one last time, when suddenly hands reach out of the grave, and drag the terrified woman inside.

Clinical social worker Catherine Black aids a family as they come to terms with the incestuous abuse they have suffered for decades. However, the father who is responsible still commands respect and political connections in the area, making the case a difficult one.

A man, Cutter, parks his automobile near a home with a "For Sale" sign on the front lawn. After speaking briefly with a realtor, Cutter signs his name in a guest book and makes his way through the house, where he takes particular interest in a little girl's bedroom. Later that evening, the owners return home and tuck their young daughter, Patricia, into bed. Later that night, Patricia suddenly begins screaming.

Maddie Haskel, twenty-years-old and heartland pretty, attends her mother's funeral in Joplan, Missouri. After the service, Maddie returns to her family's home, where she is approached by a vicious-looking man named Jim Gilroy. Gilroy's attempt to rape Maddie comes to a sudden halt when Maddie's boyfriend, Bobby Webber, emerges from the shadows wielding a length of iron pipe. After Gilroy is knocked unconscious, Bobby and Maddie drive off into the night with their prisoner safely tucked away in the trunk of their automobile. A Missouri State Trooper notices the vehicle has a burned-out tail light and orders Bobby to pull over. When the trooper hears noises emanating from the trunk, Bobby grabs a .357 and shoots and kills the trooper.

An unidentified man in a van follows a teenage boy, Josh Comstock, as he rides his new motorcycle through Vista Verde Estates, a gated, upper middle-class neighborhood in Washington State. As night falls, Josh rides his bike across the dirt of an undeveloped cul-de-sac. The driver parks his van and approaches the boy, suddenly, jabbing a cattle prod into Josh's chest and sending him flying backwards into the dirt. When Mr. and Mrs. Comstock awaken the next morning, they find the corpse of another teenage boy in Josh's bed--and their son missing.

Near the University of Colorado at Boulder, a group of college-age students gather at a warehouse/techno night club. Art Nesbitt, a pharmacist, approaches a couple, Mel and Leslie. He opens his palm, revealing two capsules. Under the influence of the powerful drugs, the couple accompany Nesbitt to a small room. Nesbitt captures their lovemaking on videotape, then injects them with a lethal poison.

A sudden hail storm sends students at Washington Polytech scrambling for cover. But one of the students, Lauren, wades through the downpour as the hail changes to rain. She approaches a teaching assistant who has taken cover in a breezeway. Lauren reaches for the woman's cigarette-and suddenly bursts into flames.

Frank enters a hospital emergency room looking for Catherine, who is working the night shift in child counseling. Suddenly, paramedics rush in with a bloodied woman on a gurney. Frank is inexplicably drawn to the stranger, and as he moves closer, notices a curved slash on her palm. He raises his own right hand, revealing a thin white scar which matches exactly the slash on the victim's hand. The woman dies from her injuries.

Frank's brother, Tom, and his wife, Helen, travel to Seattle where they hold their newborn son's baptism. After the ceremony, Frank checks up on Jordan, who is off playing with a friend inside the church. He finds his daughter huddled in a ball on the pew, clutching herself. She speaks of a man she saw hurting her Aunt Helen. Frank rushes outside the church. He finds his baby nephew unharmed in the back seat of Tom's rental car, but notes a blood droplet on the infant's face. Frank and Tom realize Helen was abducted.

Frank travels to Weber County, Utah, where he meets with Prosecutor Calvin Smith. The District Attorney's office convicted Sheriff William Garry of murdering his wife and three children. Garry had confessed to the crime, and his fingerprints were found on the murder weapon, a tool used for carving wood. Now all that remains is for the jury to decide if Garry should receive the death penalty. Smith hopes Frank can develop a psychological profile that will leave no doubt in the jury's mind that Garry is a cold, calculating murderer.

Peter Watts tells Catherine that Frank missed a routine homicide review with Yakima police that morning. Fearing the worst, Peter and Catherine access Frank's computer, looking for clues that would shed light on his disappearance. The pair uncover email correspondence between Frank (using the pseudonym "David Marx") and a Doctor Daniel Miller. Catherine tells Peter that five years ago, just before Frank collapsed, he would sometimes vanish for days at a time and check into hotels using the same pseudonym.

Frank and Bob Bletcher hike across a remote snow-covered mountaintop in the spectacular North Cascades region of Washington State. Their trip is cut short when Frank receives an important page from the FBI.

Attorney Al Pepper walks through a supermarket parking lot carrying a bag of groceries. A teenager, Sam, addresses Pepper and extends an open palm. Frank exits the supermarket and sees the two men. Suddenly, a bolt of light emanates from Sam's palm, knocking Pepper to the ground. Frank runs towards the scene, passing through panicking shoppers. When he arrives at Pepper's side, he discovers a handgun lying at Sam's feet.

In North Dakota, a woman named Sally Dumont rides a horse to her farm. As Sally guides the animal to a stall in the stable, she discovers another horse, its coat stained with blood, lying on the ground inside its pen. As she kneels down next to it to investigate, Sally notices someone wearing a pair of rubber boots standing in the adjoining stall. Terrified, she makes her way to a phone and calls for help. Suddenly, the intruder looms up from behind and knocks Sally unconscious.

In the Brighton Beach area of New York City, a man named Yaponchik kills a Russian Elder by shooting him in the face with a 12 gauge pistol. It becomes the third such killing in which the perpetrator mutilated the body to prevent positive identification. Frank assists N.Y.P.D. Lieutenant McCormick, Yura Surova, from the Moscow Police Department, and undercover officer Andrei Medikov with the investigation. While inspecting the Elder's corpse, Frank notices an odd mark in the shape of a inverted "V." But he is unable, at first, to determine its meaning.

Frank is asked by Catherine's father to investigate a case involving a friend whose son has been convicted of murder, and is soon convinced that the murder is linked to a serial killer called The Woodsman. Having claimed his latest victim, the Woodsman takes the body to a secluded campsite, covers the body in plastic, buries her under a pile of leaves and strikes up a conversation. Later, he is given photos by a mysterious stranger and asked to use them as 'targets' for future killings - one of which includes Catherine Black...