Dr. Al Carlisle's descent into the violent mind begins by chance, when he's asked to run a psychological evaluation on a man who will go on to become one of America's most infamous serial killers: Theodore Robert Bundy.
Dr. Carlisle's evaluation of Ted Bundy is over, but his work on the notorious serial killer has just begun. As Dr. Carlisle develops his theory of the development of the violent mind, Bundy escapes from prison and goes on a murderous rampage.
Dr. Al Carlisle's study of the violent mind continues when the men convicted of Utah's horrific Hi-Fi Shop mass murders enter the Utah State Prison, awaiting a death sentence.
When a new inmate at the Utah State Prison claims he cannot remember the crime that sent him to prison, Dr. Carlisle's experiments with hypnosis reveal a violent alternate personality hidden just beneath the surface.
Dr. Carlisle's Mormon faith is tested when Arthur Gary Bishop asks for his help in understanding how he became a serial killer.
Dr. Carlisle discovers a surprising link between the traumas of war and the development of the violent mind when he interviews a Vietnam War veteran turned killer.
When a new inmate claims he can't remember the attempted murder of his wife and murder of the man she was having an affair with, Dr. Carlisle uses hypnosis to access his apparent alternate personality, Dan Hell.
Dr. Carlisle begins a surprising relationship with inmate Manny Cortez in the Oregon State Penitentiary and uncovers the impetus for Cortez's murder of two 11-year-old girls.
Dr. Carlisle's tapes documenting his 27-year relationship with Manny Cortez reveal the convicted murderer's point of no return when he became unhinged and began his violent spree.