Kidnapping is a particularly cruel crime. Wealth and the friendship of the chief Constable are of no help to Robert and Joanna Hamilton when their young son and his nanny are held to ransom by an anonymous and ruthless gang. The Hamiltons insist that their case merits the attention of a senior police officer. John Anderson gets the job, and arranges the exchange of the hamiltons' cash for young Robbie.
But nothing is a straightforward as it seems. Disloyalty and betrayal are everywhere; in the Hamilton household; in Anderson's squad; in the kidnappers' triangular affair of love and lust. Even the new woman in Anderson's life can't be trusted. The police operation goes catastrophically wrong, and Anderson has to take the blame. He sets out single-handed to track down the kidnappers, and finds himself in deadly danger.