The idyllic lives of civic-minded environmentalists Patty and Walter Berglund come into question when their son moves in with aggressive Republican neighbors, green lawyer Walter takes a job in the coal industry, and go-getter Patty becomes increasingly unstable and enraged.

NYPD detective Jacob Kanon and Swedish reporter Dessie Larsson traverse Europe in hot pursuit of a serial killer, one who sends a postcard before each murder and was responsible for the slayings of Jacob's daughter and her boyfriend.

Eliza Benedict's peaceful suburban life is shattered after she is contacted by Walter Bowman, the man who kidnapped and held her hostage as a teen in 1985, and who now claims to want forgiveness while on death row.