In the first of the three Sweeney novels written by the creator of the TV series, Detective Inspector Jack Regan, expert at evading the proper channels, insolent and insubordinate to his superiors, exercises his usual trump card of cases solved with successful convictions.

When he is ordered to London airport to pick up Lieutenant Ewing of the San Francisco and to cooperate with him in finding a police killer believed to be in London, Regan, pursuing a line of his own, finds the American an embarrassment and soon the two men are engulfed in a dangerous clash of personalities. The Lieutenant shoots first and asks questions - if at all - afterwards. Regan finds himself involved in a case that grows into something much more violent and sinister than he had envisaged.

This is the first of the three novels, 'Regan', 'The Manhattan File', and 'The Deal of the Century', published at the time of the original series.

Ian Kennedy Martin is the creator of the Sweeney and other T.V. series.