Concrete Boot

A treason case so serious it would make the Cambridge spies look like pupils caught passing notes in class forms the backdrop of this story. Its players include a fiercely patriotic Soho gangster who is also violent, a notorious cat burglar whose body was pulled from the Thames with his feet encased in concrete, and an unusually keen observer of Heathrow airport's operations.

The thread tying them together is Willie "Spider" Scott, who was born with an extra Y chromosome that is said to make him prone to crime. Spider is attempting to leave that life behind and runs the XYY Travel Agency, yet the skills people actually want from him are those of a thief, not a travel agent. Special Branch is closing in, his contacts in British Intelligence have left him to fend for himself, and he looks set to take the blame for a scheme combining a politically convenient killing with a huge drug shipment. It all starts with what ought to be the simplest burglary of his career, a break-in at an empty house, and the danger only deepens from there.