'People sleep peacefully only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf...' For twenty years Leo Black was in the SAS. Now he lectures on violence instead of committing it, putting his soldiering days behind him in pursuit of a respectful academic life. But when a former comrade in arms is killed trying to prevent a scientist's abduction, Black is faced with an unexpected choice. Be the upright citizen the university demands... Or avenge the dead man to whom he owes his life.