Massive, glowering, and ugly as death, former soldier and ex-boxer Joe has always invited violence. But now Hackney's most vicious gangs all want to kill him. Why? As he tries to unravel the knot of events that have made him a target, Joe is drawn back into his past, back to the memory of the only woman he ever loved. Brenda was a prostitute who dreamed of something better. Now she's dead, and her murder, unsolved, haunts Joe every night.