When the body of a recently released prisoner washes up on a Northumberland beach, DCI Max Cornell is drawn into a murder investigation that reaches from Newcastle's criminal underworld to the shadowy influence of the London Mob.
The dead man is the son of a powerful local crime boss, and his killing appears tied to old betrayals, family rivalries and a struggle for control of a criminal empire. As Cornell pursues the truth, he faces obstruction, deception and mounting danger-not only from organised crime, but from corruption close to home. With more bodies falling, loyalties shifting and his own life on the line, Cornell must untangle a deadly web of ambition, revenge and power before it destroys everything around him.