Dr Leo Black is one of Oxford University's rising stars. His lectures play to a packed audience of adoring students. He seems destined for tenure amongst the gleaming spires. But Worcester College has never employed a man like Leo Black before.For twenty years Leo served the SAS with distinction. And when the friend he served alongside is killed in Paris trying to prevent the abduction of a young British scientist, the world Leo has tried to put behind him begins to reel him back in.When Leo's former Commanding Officer reveals that Paris represented far more than just a single, isolated tragedy, Leo reluctantly agrees to help, whatever the cost to his new life.But as Leo gets closer to the startling truth about his friend's death, he also faces an uncomfortable realization that, while he might be a promising academic, he is a truly exceptional soldier.And when the scale of the threat is revealed, it's clear Leo will have to draw on all his considerable skills not just to survive, but to save us all ...