Heads or tails? Three hours into her new job, Blake Larsen stumbles across her first body. But this is no ordinary murder. The scene is elaborately staged, with the victim's head clinically severed from her shoulders. Blake is certain this isn't the killer's first time. Then, a second woman goes missing, a young, beautiful Army wife named Nina Crawford. When the kidnappers—claiming to be ISIS—release a horrific, videoed ransom demand threatening to livestream her execution, the attention of the entire country turns to Northern Pines. And a countdown begins. Nina has 48 hours to live. The two cases must be connected. But why murder one woman and kidnap another? Why deliberately fan the flames of media attention? And why does the killer's MO match two cold cases from almost a decade earlier? As the FBI searches for terrorists, the body count rises, and protesters battle on the normally placid streets of Northern Pines, only one thing is clear: nothing about this case makes sense. Blake knows she's in a race against time. And the clock is ticking...