By the author of The Business of Dying -- a gritty, page-turner set in North London's meanest of mean streets. When Max Iversson, an ex-soldier and mercenary who is now co-director of a small firm of freelance bodyguards, is introduced to north London nightclub owner, Roy Fowler, he senses immediately that the guy is trouble. Fowler wants security for a meeting with some people who want to buy his nightclub. Five grand for a couple of hours' work is too tempting a proposition to turn down, so Iversson -- against his better judgment -- takes on the job. However, when he and two colleagues accompany Fowler to the " meet" in a deserted north London industrial estate, it turns out to be not so much a double-cross as a bloodbath. With Fowler and both bodyguards dead, Iversson grabs the briefcase containing the deeds to the club, and vacates the scene rapidly. But the suitcase is empty, which makes no sense at all. Three men have been shot, and Iversson wants to know why. So begins a hunt for answers that will take him into dangerous territory, and also into direct conflict with Detective Sergeant Gallan. Gallan is investigating the same people and sniffing around the same territory. But he's like a dog with a bone -- he just keeps digging away, unearthing in the process a murderous conspiracy. Both men are playing with fire and unknown to each other are heading towards a final confrontation with forces as ruthless as they are determined, and from which neither man is likely to emerge in one piece.