'Murder was always an insult, and had been since the first human hand had smashed a stone into the first human skull. But the murder, bloody and brutal, of an entire family in their own home, in there own beds, was a different form of evil.' On the surface Keelie and Grant Swisher seem unlikely targets for an assassin; an average couple living in a nice neighbourhood and working hard to raise their two kids. But when Eve Dallas is called to a multiple homicide at the Swisher family home, she discovers a blood-bath. There are five dead - including two children - in what seems to be a professional hit. The killers breached an elaborate security system, slashed the throat of each victim while they slept; and were in and out of the house in less than ten minutes. In fact they made only one mistake. They left a survivor...Nine-year-old Nixie Swisher's sudden urge for a midnight snack may just have saved her life. While her parents, brother and best-friend lay in their beds, oblivious to the threat, Nixie was downstairs in the kitchen getting a soda and saw far too much. But as Nixie is the only survivor of a seemingly motiveless attack, Eve knows that her priority is to keep her safe. Offering her a temporary refuge is easy, but dealing with the emotional needs of a nine-year-old girl who has lost everything isn't. Eve can at least promise Nixie justice, but she's chasing professionals who don't like leaving loose ends. And leaving Nixie Swisher alive is one loose end too many...