A sniper stalks San Francisco, and the killer is one of their own.
Who drives the story
Homicide lieutenant, grieving her dead partner and barely back on the job when the Chimera case lands. She hunts the shooter from a church steps to a college tower and pulls the trigger that ends it.
Frank Coombs's son and the real killer, avenging his father with a sniper's rifle. He stops caring whether he lives and dies in a campus tower, where Lindsay kills him.
The ex-cop whose name sits at the center of the trail. His past is the grievance his son kills for.
Lindsay's estranged father, who claims he misses her while secretly tailing Chimera because he witnessed the murder of a fourteen-year-old boy. He leaves again, sending a postcard from Mexico and naming his boat Buttercup.
The club's medical examiner, whose work on the victims makes her a target of the Chimera killer.
Assistant district attorney who announces she's pregnant while the case turns deadly around her.
San Francisco Chronicle crime reporter who starts dating Aaron Winslow, pastor of the murdered girl's church.
Pastor of Tasha Catchings's church, mourning his congregation's loss and drawn to Cindy in the middle of it.
Lindsay's boss, murdered by the killer, pushing the case from manhunt to personal vendetta.
How they are connected
Frank Coombs's son and the real killer, avenging his father with a sniper's rifle.
He stops caring whether he lives and dies in a campus tower, where Lindsay kills him.
Lindsay's estranged father, who claims he misses her while secretly tailing Chimera because he witnessed the murder of a fourteen-year-old boy.
San Francisco Chronicle crime reporter who starts dating Aaron Winslow, pastor of the murdered girl's church.
Lindsay's boss, murdered by the killer, pushing the case from manhunt to personal vendetta.
Go deeper
Revenge as inheritance · The family you choose · Hate with a uniform on · Fathers who lie
Themes explainedThe full story act by act, the ending explained and a quick quiz.
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