The Assailant

CO-ED SLAIN. That's the call that brings St. Louis Police Lieutenant George Hastings to the downtown banks of the Mississippi River, where Reesa Woods has been strangled and dumped. The hard-charging Hastings is no stranger to murder, but he's stuck without any leads until a second body—also strangled—turns up across town and he knows he's chasing a monster.

A talented doctor with an otherwise ordinary and enviable life, Raymond Sheffield has some very dark needs. His first victims are targ...