At a small club on the Monterey Peninsula, news of a fire sends panicked people running for the doors - only to find they are blocked. Half a dozen people die and others are seriously injured. But it is the panic and the stampede that kill; there is no fire... Busted back to rookie after losing her gun in an interrogation gone bad, California Bureau of Investigation Agent Kathryn Dance finds herself making routine insurance checks after the fire. But when the evidence at the club points to something more than a tragic accident, she isn't going to let protocol stop her doing everything in her power to take down the perp. Someone out there is using the panic of crowds to kill, and Dance must find out who, before he strikes again...