The stolen Mercedes emerges from the pre-dawn fog and plows through a crowd of men and women on line for a job fair in a distressed American city. Then the lone driver backs up, charges again, and speeds off, leaving eight dead and more wounded. The case goes unsolved and ex-cop Bill Hodges is out of hope when he gets a letter from the man who loved the feel of death under the Mercedes's wheels... Brady Hartsfield wants that rush again, but this time he's going big, with an attack that would take down thousands— unless Hodges and his two eccentric allies can throw a wrench in Brady's diabolical plans.