A gruesome countdown relentlessly advances toward a killer’s final mark: Rachel Ryder.

Detective Rachel Ryder and her partner Rob Bishop have seen their fair share of brutal crimes in Hamby, Georgia—but nothing like this. Chilling photos of the dead arrive at the police department, the victims eerily preserved in white robes from an exclusive Atlanta hotel. Their faces are obscured. Their locations: a mystery. With no clear jurisdiction and no obvious connection between the victims, the case is already a challenge.

Desperate for leads, the department goes public, casting Rachel as the face of their plea for information. As the inevitable media firestorm erupts, it draws attention from all sides—including the one they fear the most. And when a suitcase appears on Bishop’s doorstep, a corpse inside, it’s clear the killer has made their reply. This time, there’s no mystery about the message.

Pinned to the victim’s robe is a chilling note: Rachel’s next.

Then the bodies begin appearing—one after another, packed into suitcases and left in plain sight. Each one is a warning. Each one is part of a countdown. And if Rachel wants to catch the killer…she’ll have to lure them out herself.

Dive into the next electrifying chapter of USA Today best-selling author Carolyn Ridder Aspenson’s Rachel Ryder series, where the search for justice turns into a terrifying game of survival.