Detective Lincoln Rhyme, the foremost criminalist in the NYPD, joins his beautiful protege, Amelia Sachs, in the hunt for the Coffin Dancer -- an ingenious killer who changes his appearance even faster than he adds to his trail of victims. So far, they have only one clue: the assassin has a tattoo on his arm -- of the Grim Reaper waltzing with a woman in front of a coffin. Rhyme, a quadriplegic from a line-of-duty accident, must rely on his wits and Sachs's intuition to track the elusive murderer through the subways, parks, and airports of an ever-tumultuous New York City -- knowing they have only forty-eight hours before the Coffin Dancer strikes again.