A wave of 'babynappings' has terrified parents from San Diego to Portland. And when the Pied Piper - named for the penny flute he leaves in the cribs of his victims - claims his first Seattle infant, the investigation draws in homicide detective Lou Boldt. Assigned temporarily to Intelligence, Boldt's role is to keep the FBI out of the Seattle Police Department's way. Then the Pied Piper snatches Boldt's own daughter, promising that unless Boldt throws both the Feds and the SPD off his trail he'll never see his child again. Caught between his professional obligations and his fear for his daughter's life, Boldt launches his own private manhunt - and discovers how the Piper has managed to stay a step ahead of the police, elude capture, and find his small victims...