A string of connected murders is taking place in New York City, where hapless taxicab ride victims are horrifically left to die. The senior forensic investigator on this case is quadriplegic Lincoln Rhyme (Denzel Washington), crippled in a subway tunnel accident and preparing for his own assisted suicide. With the assistance of a young, female cop, Amelia Donaghy (Angelina Jolie) and his nurse (Queen Latifah), Rhyme and Donaghy are forced to come to terms both with these killings, mortality itself, and their own handicaps and fears. Meanwhile, the pace of the murderer urges them towards the answer.