Police sketch artist Nate Rodriguez is used to working on a variety of cases, but facial reconstruction is something he hasn't done in years. He's given the skull of a John Doe and asked to recreate the man's face for identification. John Doe was shot and then his body burned. Without Nate's help, the man is doomed to remain nameless. For some reason Nate feels compelled to do this job, even after he's pulled off the assignment.

Nate is pulled off the John Doe case to work with a task force after a college student is brutally murdered in public. The case is red-hot, with plenty of press, the pubic clamoring for a suspect to be caught. The task force head is Detective Terri Russo, who happens to be Nate's girlfriend. Although they prefer to not work together, they each do their part to solve this senseless crime. Terri and her task force do the traditional police work, and Nate, using his uncanny intuition, works with eyewitnesses to coax out fleeting memories. Nate finds parallels between this murder and another one, and both suspects end up killing themselves. And when a third random crime turns into yet another murder-suicide, Nate and Terri suspect there is some hidden link between these men.

All of the killers suffered from PTSD and were on various medications for their conditions. What is the cause of their disorders and their sudden snapping? Can more deaths be prevented? How many ticking time bombs are out there? In the course of the investigation, Nate and Terri unearth a frightening study of human testing with devastating consequences. And the John Doe mystery has startling ties to Nate's past. Will Nate survive both cases unscathed?

THE MURDER NOTEBOOK is a complex story, rife with conspiracies and secrets. Parts of the plot are truly frightening when one considers today's world. The book ends on a hopeful note, a stark contrast to the main story. Mr. Santlofer has written a timely thriller, sure to please fans of the genre.