When a man known only as "The Digger" opens fire in a train station many are left dead. The only clue the FBI has is a hand written letter with demands on it. Agent Margurete needs help analyzing it and the best is retired specialist Kincaid.

Three escaped convicts take a group of deaf students hostage.

Lincoln Rhyme was the department's top homicide detective and leading expert in criminal forensics until an injury left him paralyzed, depressed, and incapable of working. But when a gruesome murder in Manhattan leaves detectives baffled, they call on Rhyme to help solve the mystery. Amelia Donaghy, a rookie cop whose quick thinking preserved a gruesome murder scene, is enlisted by Rhyme to be his on-the-scene forensics expert. With Amelia reluctantly acting as Rhyme's able-bodied go-between, the pair piece together cryptic clues the killer leaves behind at the scene of the crime, hoping to catch the grisly serial killer.