Lincoln 1997. Veteran customs investigator Frank McBride has been targeting gangs of drugs smugglers for decades. Taking out John Pyke's team of Lincoln-based criminals is just another operation until suddenly things become interesting.

Why has Pyke's team suddenly become so professional? How has it become so adept at evading surveillance? And who is the mysterious figure who is pulling the strings? McBride relishes having found a worthy opponent. But who is he? And what game is he playing?

Michael Butcher wants to know why his grandfather, a retired brigadier living in a tiny Rutland village, has decided to become an international trafficker in narcotics. Involving him in an elaborate game where the price of losing is life in prison.

McBride and the Brigadier become enmeshed in a private duel, but only one of them knows the rules of the game.