The discovery of a headless corpse on the rocks below cliffs on the Isle of Wight is only the beginning of a journey for DI Joe Faraday to the centre of the grim trade in human cargo from the crippled societies of the Balkans. From cheap labour to prostitution, Portsmouth, like every other city in the UK, is home to untold human misery; a black economy built on illegal immigration. Joe Faraday is determined to find the real criminals that lie behind the tabloid hysteria. Detective Constable Winter, on the other hand, is determined only to find a way out of the disciplinary action that threatens his entire career. A burgeoning relationship with a young prostitute isn't exactly helping his cause. Graham Hurley has written another vivid novel of an all-too-human policeman struggling against an overwhelming tide of crime. This is crime writing with a vivid edge of documentary realism.