It is 1798 in the Port of London: a cruel villain holds sway over the underworld.His face is savaged by lime, his back scarred by two hundred lashes - Boylin is not a man to be crossed. Yet there is one person he loathes and fears - his captain and shipmate, Tom Pascoe, the man he blames for his Court Martial and the terrible punishment that followed.They meet again when Pascoe becomes River Surveyor for the newly formed Marine Police. Pascoe knows that Boylin is behind most of the criminal activity that flourishes in the Port, but he can't prove anything - yet. And when both men become involved with the same woman, things get personal.