A deal has gone sour between two rival gangs from Manchester and Liverpool. Caught in the violent crossfire is a thirty mile gap, Brendan Foley and Warrington nick.

Brendan left the police force under a dark cloud. Driven to stop the gangs who destroyed his family and his career, the old rules no longer apply and he's determined to bring them down. Iona Madison, his former deputy, has stepped up with Brendan's blessing to take his place leading the committed but under-resourced Warrington Police force; a close-knit loyal team who have risked everything to solve one case.

But now a body has surfaced; one stuffed in a sports bag in the river. It is the corpse of a teenage boy who went missing the previous year: linked with that case. While Brendan cannot stop himself from investigating, Madison must convince her superiors that she's trustworthy. Against whispers of corruption, ever-climbing stakes, and Brendan feeding her illegally gathered tip-offs, how can Madison hope to stop two vicious gangs at war and keep her patch and her team safe?