Natalie Dvorak #18:

A sleazy motel in rural Vermont becomes the focal point for a series of crimes including a robbery-homicide that brings Detective-Sergeant Natalie Dvorak onto the scene. The killing seems unusually brutal and physical evidence indicates the murderer was a giant of a man. Meanwhile a motel guest becomes another victim but survives the encounter. Whether to involve the police when the chance to recover stolen property becomes the question the crime victim must decide. Back in her small town home, Natalie's husband gets involved when a stalker apparently returns to threaten his friend and colleague in local government. What can he do as the only police officer in town when the intruder might turn violent? Another robbery goes beyond the motel crime in a scale of violence that shocks the community. The killer's connection to organized crime in Boston comes to light, raising the stakes further as a gang boss reaches across the state line to seek revenge. Can Natalie and her husband defend their state and town's citizens against psychopathic outsiders?