Chicago's chief medical examiner Dr William Palmer (Rutger Hauer) uses his experience to pen a best-selling novel based on the grisly murders of a real-life serial killer. In the book, the culprit is brought to justice, but in real life he was never found. So when Palmer's editor disappears, leaving only a severed finger behind, it seems that the psychopath might have decided to return to his murderous ways. It is now a race against the clock, with Palmer using every trick in the book in a desperate attempt to track down the killer before further body parts start turning up.