A businessman heading to Florida from New York is waylaid by a kidnapper when he pulls off the highway on the way to JFK for gas. The perp leaves a token at the site of the kidnapping - part of a musical instrument, dangling from a tiny noose. Witnesses report the abduction, and Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs are called in to investigate. The killer's MO is bizarre and frightening: he plans to strangle the victim and record him as he dies. Obsessed with music, the man uses the sounds to compose a tune to share online. Rhyme and Sachs close in on the killer, but The Composer slips out from under their grasp. Weeks later, a series of kidnappings sweeps Italy with the same MO...and the hunt resumes.