Fully seasoned to the anonymous urban violence that is all in a day's work, Lieutenant Mendoza must once again adapt his mode of operation to a chilling sequence of senseless crimes. As Cold Trail opens, a murderous rapist and child molester is loose in the streets; an unidentified female body is found under a condemned house in a decaying section of the city; a thug is shot to death and a chain of robberies continues unabated--all without a clue.