Carrie Nelson, a typical soccer mom, is driving her children to school. When a man cuts her off, she attacks and nearly kills him. When Beverly Craig drives up to help a family whose car has stalled, without warning, he pulls a knife and slaughters the family. During mass, Father Leonard Ware descends from the pulpit, pulls out a Glock, and shoots a parishioner in the head. Why are these otherwise normal people committing murder? Their defense attorneys are at a loss, so they hire Dr. Michael Rose, a detective-turned-forensic psychiatrist. Dr. Rose identifies three things these murderers have in common: they are normal people without psychiatric problems, they lack motive for assault or murder, and they come from Hillsborough. None remembers their actions and witnesses describe their behavior as that of an automaton with unusual eye movements. Dr. Rose suspects these are more than spontaneous psychotic episodes. Using his instincts and skills as a former police detective, he takes it upon himself, with the help of his colleague Dr. Karen Scott, to start his own investigation. What he discovers is disturbing. Who is behind this frightening trend, and, most importantly, can Dr. Rose and Dr. Scott prove it before the killer strikes again?