Thatcher's Britain. A boom time for entrepreneurs, patriots ... and vigilantes.

Gateshead's notorious Derwent Hall estate. Crippled by unemployment, awash with drugs, and a no-go area for police and politicians alike.

Three men – a taxi driver with political aspirations, a soldier with black dreams, and the jobless victim of a brutal attack – come together to rid their estate of crime. But when conscience collides with ambition, it's not long before the streets turn bloody and their community burns.

"Ray Banks writes with harshness, humour and elegance, and his punchy dialogue teems with vigorous authenticity." – The Times

"Tough and assured . . . Banks is updating the noir novel with an utterly original sensibility." – Publisher's Weekly

"Ray Banks offers us a glimpse of what Samuel Beckett might have read like had he turned his hand to crime fiction." – Crime Always Pays

"Banks wields language with a knifefighter's precision, with much the same result. From the first words to the last, this book flashes brilliantly." – Don Winslow, The Power Of The Dog and Savages

"Banks is part of the post-Rankin generation for whom hardboiled is not just a state of mind but a reality. Tough-guy colloquial prose and a pace fast enough to skin a rabbit, at the service of a tale of down-and-dirty realism: this is fiery stuff." – The Guardian

"...terrific, brooding and chilling prose" – Tom Adair, The Scotsman

"...a fine example of energetic, visceral and compelling storytelling... This is properly thrilling stuff." – The Big Issue In Scotland

Ray Banks is the author of nine novels, including Wolf Tickets, Dead Money and Saturday's Child.