Christmas is just around the corner; the season of peace and goodwill. But this year, for Detective Jack Paris, the Christmas spirit is eclipsed by the hunt for a sadistic and twisted serial killer...When an accused murderer is acquitted on a technicality then found dead of an apparent suicide, a spree of brutal murders terrorizes the citizens of Cleveland. This vicious and vengeful killer tortures his seemingly unrelated victims in unimaginably violent ways, leaving them all with a strange symbol carved into their flesh. When Detective Paris discovers that these murders are the grim handiwork of one maniac obsessed with the dark side of the ancient religion, Santeria, he's pulled into a web of danger and sexual deviance. Jack must catch the killer before he kills again. But on Christmas Eve, Jack finds himself right where the homicidal maniac wants him: questioning his loyalties, facing an impossible choice, with the barrel of a gun pointing at his temple and the whole world watching...