Glasgow 1946. The last time Brodie came home it was 1942 & he was a proud young man in a paratroopers uniform. Now the war is over but victorys wine has soured & Brodies back in Scotland to try & save childhood friend Shug Donovan from the gallows. Everyone thought Donovan was dead shot down in the war. Perhaps it would have been kinder if he had been killed. The man who returns from the war is unrecognisable: mutilated horribly burned. Donovan keeps his own company only venturing out for heroin to deaden the pain of his wounds. When a local boy is found raped & murdered there is only one suspect. Donovan claims hes innocent but a mountain of evidence says otherwise. Despite the hideousness of the crime ex-policeman Brodie feels compelled to try & help his one time friend. Working with advocate Samantha Campbell Brodie trawls the mean streets of the Gorbals & the green hills of western Scotland in their search for the truth. What they find is an unholy alliance of troublesome priests corrupt coppers & Glasgows deadliest razor gang happy to slaughter to protect their dark & dirty secrets. As time runs out for the condemned man the murder tally of innocents starts to climb. When Sam Campbell disappears its the last straw for Brodie & he reverts to his wartime role as a trained killer. Its them or him -