Jack Neely - one time sailor, one time regulator, one time Detective Inspector; full time emotional mess and drop out. Once happily married, his life is a perpetual 'Nearly', the nickname given to him in the Royal Navy, punning on his surname, as he so nearly gets what he wants, but is always thwarted by under ambition and laziness. A series of seemingly unconnected murders is now testing the Portsmouth CID. Jack must find the link and stop the senseless killing.

VJ, Ahab and Mouse are peddling their wares at local raves, providing the detectives with another line of investigation. Mouse is the brains, but VJ is the leader and when Mouse tries to warn the group to lay low following the rape and murder of the 5th victim he is overruled by VJ. Mouse however, is taking no chances.

The characters each have a variety of prejudices, the blacks hate the whites and vice versa, the men hate women, the police hate their superiors and the Navy Police hate their civilian counterparts. As for Jack, in the words of Chief Inspector Ian Morrow, his boss, "He's not racist; he hates everyone".

Both Jack and The Naval Provost, Commander Turner, are Special Forces trained and despite needing each other; a deep seated hate still lingers.

As the action draws to a close the distinction between the good guys and the bad guys becomes more and more hazy and we learn more about the seedy side of investigations in high stakes crime.