By the time Steven Jay reaches the screaming woman it is too late - her killers have butchered her, leaving Jay and a young fire fighter to explain themselves to a crowd that wont listen to reason. But that is only the beginning of the trouble. As London simmers through a heat wave, racial tension mounts across the East End - a religious leader has died; a political leader fans the flames; an embittered immigrant communitys anger grows.Then an arsonist sets fire to an Asian cinema leaving hundreds dead, and the mob goes on the rampage. Their first target is the Fire Brigade - and some of them have picked Steve Jay as their victim. Jay has stumbled into a whirlwind of violence where big-time drug dealing exploits the immigrant communitys alienation. And to get out alive, he will have to nail a ruthless criminal.