Rene Ballard and the LAPD’s Open-Unsolved Unit arrest a man in his early twenties and find themselves with a DNA link to a serial rapist and murderer known as the Pillowcase Rapist. Twenty years earlier, after a five-year reign of terror, he had suddenly gone quiet. But when Ballard and her team move in on their suspect, they encounter a baffling web of secrets and legal hurdles. At the same time, Ballard’s badge, gun and ID are stolen-a theft she can’t report without giving her enemies in the department the ammunition they need to end her career. Working the burglary leads to unexpected danger and, with no choice but to go outside the department, Ballard knocks on Harry Bosch’s door. Meanwhile, Ballard has taken on Patrol Officer Maddie, Harry’s daughter, as a new volunteer to the cold case unit. But Rene soon learns that Maddie has an ulterior motive for getting access to the city’s library of lost souls. Ballard is determined to bring justice-but opening this cold case also opens a Pandora’s box.
