Meet Ash, thirteen years old, saying goodbye to his father before he goes to serve a stretch in prison. His dad's friend Kieran helps get rid of social services and then school's out for ever. But when his father's house begins to fill with stolen goods and armed gangsters, it's easy for Ash to get into trouble. When Kieran enlists him on a job, an attempted takeover of the Norway Room club, it goes disastrously wrong. Alone in a dangerous city, Ash is forced to hide out on the Mendy Estate, in the towers and takeaways, in the back rooms where the real work of the city is planned.

Meanwhile, an ex-copper working as a bouncer for the city's busiest club gets caught in the middle of a hostile takeover and is tempted towards joining the criminal underworld. And a trained Chinese killer falls in love with his target.

As these narratives converge in a spectacular finale, who would bet against born survivor Ash, alone in the city, to do the impossible and stay alive?