When a mysterious collection of papers containing a serial killer's autobiographical reflections is discovered, the man who finds the writings, Vox Clamantis in Deserto, edits and publishes them under the title Lab Notes. The confessions recount a ghastly story of a lifetime of involvement in a criminal underworld, the Network, whose occult tendrils of abuse, blackmail, and murder extend everywhere. All the while, one question hovers over the will the killer be caught, and will he repent?