This is the summer of 1946. Haunted by memories of his experiences in the blood-soaked Pacific War and of his abusive father, ex-marine Earl Swagger believes himself almost beyond redemption: an angry man with nowhere to go in the post-war peace. But there is a new war, within America's heartland: the war against organised crime. Recruited by the District Attorney in Hot Springs, Arkansas to take on the Mob head to head, Earl and his team of rookie cops find they have to do battle not only with heavily armed mobsters but also with politicians. No one anywhere is to be trusted.