In a corner of Britain untouched by the swinging spirit of the sixties, an idealistic young probation officer is assigned to a new case. His charge is a youth of cold, dead-eyed indifference, who seems destined for little more than a life of anti-social behaviour or, at worst, one of professional hooliganism. Three decades later, women all over Britain are being slaughtered in their homes by a killer so single-minded, so voraciously brutal, vile and bloodthirsty, that he might have slipped out of an open portal from Hades. Leading the investigation is Commander Alyson Kendal. Her pursuit of the killer takes her and her team from the frantic hub of Scotland Yard to the steaming jungles of Kampuchea, via the arid, sun-baked plains of Uganda, where the killer has served under Pol Pot and Amin, revelling in the terror and cruelty of their respective regimes. Despite mounting evidence and strong leads, the killer remains elusive and the public begins to lose faith in Commander Kendal's abilities. She is no less harsh on herself and knows she must find him, even if it means putting herself in the deadliest danger.