Helmand, 2004: Afghanistan’s most lawless province, where nearly 90 per cent of the world’s opium is grown. Gangsters and warlords battle for supremacy in the lucrative trade, territories well-known, and fiercely contested.

Well Diggers, an Anglo-Dutch NGO helping the farming community, comes under attack. One man is dead and another man is missing – suspected kidnapped, so head of security Ginger Jameson calls in his old friend Alasdair ‘Mac’ MacKenzie to help.

But when the expected ransom demand fails to materialise, rumours blossom, creating a web of deceit and a multitude of false leads. Embarking on a rescue mission into the no-go reaches of southern Helmand might look like a major scoop to Mac’s girlfriend, investigative reporter Baz Khan, but it puts the whole team in danger. And if they don’t find him soon, they won’t find him at all…