Abigail Bukula is a brilliant lawyer in the South African justice department. For twenty years she has closed her mind to the past, trying to forget the defence force raid when a good man, fighting for an evil cause, saved her life. Or the night that followed when an evil man, fighting for a noble cause, saved her again. But she can no longer ignore the past when she learns that on 22 October every year, since the 1985 raid, a member of the original defence force hit squad is murdered. This date is now nine days away. Only two members of the squad are still alive: the man who saved her, and a man behind bars in the country's highest security prison. The days slip away too quickly as Abigail tries to stop the murders, facing forces that she does not understand. She finds an unlikely ally in the eccentric prison psychologist Yudel Gordon. The October Killings sees this popular hero of three of the author's earlier books making a formidable team with Abigail Bukula, the sharpest heroine of the new South Africa.