Maximus Hainsworth-Catt is headhunted from the SAS to join Bastion, a powerful new secret service organisation created to counter the escalating terrorist threat facing Britain. With billions invested and unprecedented authority, Bastion operates beyond the reach of MI5, MI6 and GCHQ — and Max is brought in to lead from the front.

The danger has intensified since the Islamic Republican Front establishes regional cells across the UK. Intelligence points to a devastating attack being planned against the heart of British democracy itself: Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. For Max-Catt, this becomes his first major operation under Bastion’s command, where failure would mean catastrophe on a national scale.

As the threat closes in, Max discovers he has become a target himself. A hit-team is dispatched from Afghanistan with orders to eliminate him, backed by a $100,000 bounty placed on his head by the IRF. With time running out and enemies moving on multiple fronts, Max must stop the attack — and survive long enough to do it.