Somewhere in Scotland the unthinkable is about to happen ? something that would shatter the very bedrock of society. And for Deputy Chief Constable Bob Skinner, deadlines are looming. Four ruthless, Albanian gangsters have infiltrated Edinburgh?s underworld and MI5 are all over it. They believe the thugs are trying to move into the city?s drug scene. But do they have a bigger, more audacious objective? Then the son of a police officer is found dead in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle. A teenage prank gone wrong, or a foretaste of things to come? Meanwhile the police force is in trouble as Scotland?s unscrupulous First Minister plans to take it over, threatening to ruin anyone who gets in his way. How do you stop the man who holds the reins of power? It?s a triple threat for Skinner - and is his troubled marriage starting to cloud his judgement? As the crimes begin to collide, fragments of the truth are slowly revealed. Skinner and his team race against time to piece them together ? but it could still all come down to a shot in the dark...