In Edinburgh you’re never far from a peaceful spot, or from a hellish one either. Now, in the heat of summer, in the midst of a nationalist festival, Inspector John Rebus is on the murder case of a young man left hanging in a spot where his screams would never be heard. To find the victim’s identity — and his killer — Rebus searches from Edinburgh’s most violent neighborhood to Belfast, Northern Ireland — amongst petty thugs, gunrunners, and heavyweight criminals.

          But before Rebus can get to the truth, he’s bloodied by the dream of society’s madmen — and staring into the glint of a killer’s eyes.