When a former student bungles a murder investigation, clinical psychologist Joseph O'Loughlin steps in to face a ruthless killer. A mother and her teenage daughter are found murdered in a remote farmhouse, one defiled by multiple stab wounds and the other posed like Sleeping Beauty waiting for her prince. Joe O'Loughlin is drawn into the investigation when a former student, trading on Joe's reputation by calling himself the "Mindhunter," jeopardizes the police inquiry by leaking details to the media and stirring up public anger. With no shortage of suspects and tempers beginning to fray, Joe discovers a link between these murders and a series of brutal attacks where the men and women are choked unconscious and the letter "A" is carved into their foreheads.As the case becomes ever more complex, nothing is quite what it seems and soon Joe's fate, and that of those closest to him, become intertwined with a merciless, unpredictable killer.