Linger

Every crime scene has a smell. A look. A trail of DNA. It also has a feel. A lingering residue that floats unseen, like bacteria in the air, just waiting to be absorbed. To be felt. To be interpreted. And the man and the boy are the only ones who know this. Veteran major crimes detective Kate Messenger has a problem on her hands: six bodies - father, mother, three children, and the family dog - all slaughtered in their own home, with not a single clue or a shred of DNA that points to the butcher who killed them.

Every crime scene has a smell. A look. A trail of DNA. It also has a feel. An emotional residue that lingers...floating unseen, like bacteria in the air, just waiting to be absorbed. To be experienced. To be interpreted. And only the man, the woman, and the boy know this. When Kate Messenger quits her job as a police detective to join Noah Weston and Christopher on the road in the middle of nowhere, she has no idea what to expect.

He's called the Harbinger, a serial killer using Georgia and Florida as his hunting and dumping ground. But when he sends a letter to the federal/state task force that has assembled to find him, he leaves a mark that immediately catches Kate and Weston's attention: The circumpunct. The symbol of the Beast.

Every crime scene has a smell, a look, a trail of DNA. It also has a feel. An emotional residue that lingers...floating unseen, like bacteria in the air, just waiting to be absorbed, to be experienced, to be interpreted. And only the man, the woman, and the boy know this. It starts with a "pull" they can't quite explain. All three of them feel it - Kate, Weston, and Christopher - but none of them know why they are drawn to this small town in Southeast Michigan in the middle of winter.