For seven months a serial killer stalked the streets of Lake Side City. He struck at random, targeting victims of all ages and sexes. Because of his mercurial M.O. and use of a scythe, the media dubbed him The Mad Reaper. Too cunning and clever to be caught, he taunted the police and sent grotesque letters to the press. Like a bloody crescendo, his body count rose by the week until he'd slaughtered twenty-eight men, women, and children. And then he vanished.

Twenty-five years later...

Strait-laced FBI Special Agent Jordan Griffin leads an organized crime taskforce in a Fight against both a massive criminal syndicate dubbed The Underground Empire, and the corrupt officials that support it. But Jordan's real fight is against his own inner demons as fragmented, childhood memories of a dead little girl dumped in a well, a bloody butcher knife, and a sadistic man called Thanatos reach out from the past to destroy him.

Victor Reese leads The Underground Empire's paramilitary cadre of soldiers; the muscle that enforces the will of syndicate boss Edward Alexander. A life of cruelty, bloodshed, and struggling for daily survival has made Victor cunning and ruthless - attributes he's used to gain money, power, and virtual immunity from the law. But that's not good enough for Victor's late Uncle Simon, whose ghostly voice harasses him and won't leave Victor alone, not until he accepts his destiny as the monster Uncle Simon wants him to become.