Four women disappear from Hunter's Point, New York, before the murdered bodies of Sandra Lake and her six-year-old daughter are found. Next to Mrs. Lake are a black rose and a note that reads, "Gone, but not forgotten." Ten years later women are vanishing from Portland, Oregon. In each of their homes is a black rose and a note identical to that found in Hunter's Point. After hearing about the New York case and its possible connection to his, Portland's district attorney, Alan Page, arrests wealthy Martin Darius for the torture and murder of the people whose bodies are found on his property. Meanwhile, Betsy Tannenbaum, a rising star in the legal profession and Darius's lawyer, discovers incriminating evidence against him.

Darkness has fallen on the city of Portland, Oregon. One by one, the wives of affluent and respected men are vanishing from their homes. The only clues to their disappearance are a single black rose and a note that reads "Gone, But Not Forgotten." It is the rebirth of a horror that has already devastated a community at the opposite end of the country-and, as it did then, terror and death will follow.

Defense attorney Betsy Tannenbaum is trapped in a nightmare as the shadows of a killer darken her world. And she will soon be risking everything she has and everyone she loves to defend a cold, powerful, and ma- nipulating client who may be a victim..., or a monster.