When a predatory serial killer known as the Hangman escapes incarceration, throwing the city of Buffalo into a fearful panic, homicide detective Absalom Kearney is tasked with finding him. Still reeling from her encounter with a twisted killer whose dark past entwined closely with her own, Abbie tracks the Hangman to within miles of the city limits, just as a teenage girl goes missing there. The Buffalo P.D. is on high alert, and as more girls disappear, Abbie begins to suspect someone else may be helping the killer. Unsure of who to trust in a city of secrets, she turns to the Network, a shady consortium of Buffalo old boys and ex-cops. But as Abbie draws closer to the truth, the Hangman ratchets up the stakes, kidnapping a girl from a prestigious local school and leaving the clear message that Abbie has just hours to find her or live forever with the guilt of her death.