James Barbour Matlock is a Vietnam veteran and college professor - but now the US government have an assignment for him. They want him to investigate what seems to be a large-scale dope and prostitution business; and they'll go to any lengths to find the answers they need. Matlock is soon trapped in a maze of unrelenting terror, as the people he cares for most are under threat. Would he have accepted the job if he'd known just what it would mean? But the faceless men in Washington only care about one thing: that Matlock is the perfect man for the job - for a reason that is deadly, violent and extremely disturbing . . .