Having returned from the war in Afghanistan, Tom Forsyth discovers that things are not going as brilliantly as this inflexible and strong-willed woman wants to show for his mother, racehorse trainer Josephine Kauri. She herself and her enterprise become the object of arrogant and cynical blackmail. So the new life for Tom, in the recent past a professional military man, and now a one-legged invalid, turns out to be not at all as peaceful as one might expect. And it’s not about family conflicts, which once caused Forsyth to join the army. In law-abiding provincial England, on the hills of Lambourn, a real battle is unfolding: with an intelligence operation, the release of hostages and a decisive battle, the outcome of which no one would predict.