The core plot is pretty decent, it the execution that fails miserably. It's set in Washington, DC. The main character, Clare, is at her friends dating service late one Friday night. Her friend, Afton, has nagged Clare into giving the method a shot. Clare leaves to catch the bus back to her Georgetown home, and stumbles across a murder.
She runs. The killer pursues. She manages to get enough of a head start and finds a club in Dupont Circle. It's in the basement of a building, and it's pouring rain, so she slips and falls on the steps, knocking herself out. Some club patrons find her and call 911. Among the patrons is a doctor, who takes care of her until the cops and EMTs get there. While they're waiting, Clare comes to enough to mumble and shout some things that, while fairly incoherent, give the doctor some idea that there might be a murder nearby. The cops investigate and find the body.
When Clare wakes up in the hospital, she can't remember much about the evening, just some vague impressions. One, is the killers "cruel smile." Two, that she'd seen him in photo recently. The cops end up thinking maybe he's another member of the dating service. So, she wouldn't know the killer if he was right in front of her, and he's out to get her.
