Ash Henderson

Five years ago, his daughter, Rebecca, went missing on the eve of her thirteenth birthday. A year later the first card arrived: home-made, with a Polaroid picture stuck to the front—Rebecca, strapped to a chair, gagged and terrified. Every year another card: each one worse than the last. The tabloids call him 'The Birthday Boy'. He's been snatching girls for twelve years, always just before their thirteenth birthday, killing them slowly, then torturing their families with his homemade cards. But Ash hasn't told anyone what really happened to Rebecca—they all think she ran away—because if anyone finds out, he'll be taken off the investigation. And he's sacrificed too much to give up before his daughter's murderer gets what he deserves...

Eight years ago Ash Henderson was a Detective Inspector investigating a disturbing serial killer nicknamed the Inside Man; now he's looking at spending the rest of his life in prison. But when a nurse turns up dead, killed with the signature style of the Inside Man, the investigating team manages to get Ash released and working the case. He's out for as long as he's useful. And if he's out, he can get revenge.