Two seven-year-old boys have been abducted from the streets of Glasgow. Both had already endured years of neglect and betrayal - but for Detective Inspector Colin Anderson the case is especially disturbing, because the boys look so much like his own son Peter...

Then, with police resources stretched to breaking point,a simple house fire turns into a full-scale murder hunt. An invisible killer is picking off victims at random and, if DS Costello's hunch is correct, committing an ingenious deception

As his squad struggles to work on both cases, DI Anderson learns that deception and betrayal come in many guises. For while the boys' abductor is still out there, no child is safe - as young Peter Anderson is about to find out...