The thrilling sequel to The Janus Complex sees Jamie Raeburn recruited, reluctantly, as an assassin by a secret British Government Agency, Ultra. Run by Brigadier Sir Charles Redmond, Ultra's Archangels carry out the work the other secret arms of the United Kingdom can't, or won't, do. It is the time of "The Troubles", when the IRA and the Provisional IRA are pitched against the British State, and Jamie is thrown into the fray. He leads a double life, as a happy family man in one and Archangel Michael Messenger in the other. In Ultra he meets Clara Whitelaw, Brigadier Redmond's protégé and Depute Director of Ultra. There is immediate mutual attraction and a passionate affair develops when Clara breaks all the rules, meets him when he is on a mission in Northern Ireland, and seduces him. The affair is enduring but Jamie is plagued by guilt and when he kills an "innocent" man in the course of his work he decides it is time to get out of Ultra and his double life. But other forces are in play and Jamie is offered release from his "contract" in return for carrying out one final mission. Against his better judgement and his well-developed sixth sense for danger, he agrees and sets off for Ireland. His instincts prove to be correct and, in an explosive conclusion, he faces an IRA execution squad, outnumbered and outmanoeuvred... And they knew he was coming. Someone wants him dead, but the question is who... and why?
