'The Japanese won't wait much longer to attack. Can't you understand we're on borrowed time?' December 1941. The whole of South East Asia appears to be capitulating before the rising sun and four remarkable people are about to reassess their lives: Lexi Robinson: the doctor with a secret from the past who escapes before Hong Kong is invaded, only to find herself still within the enemy net. John Drayton Whitby: Australian army officer who focuses on the long, harrowing fight for freedom even whilst his mind clouds with suspicions about his wife. Hank 'Trap' Trapperton: the West Point-trained American 'spy' who is John Drayton's trusted friend and yet not really his friend at all. And Kathleen Leigh, the woman brought up to believe a lie until the day comes when she must confront the appalling truth.