In the moody fells of the north, a small Cumbrian town is terrorized by a serial killer who rips out the throats of his victims and leaves them bloodless. His paternity leave cancelled, Detective Inspector Jake Campbell is driven by fear for his family and relentless anger; he just wants to go home to his wife and child. Following a trail paved with the good intentions of the past, Jake discovers that knowledge, once learned, cannot be forgotten. The truth that lies beneath the hills was intended to save mankind, but instead will destroy it. Jake finds himself doubting his own sanity when the evidence points towards a killer so unthinkable, and a motive so beyond his grasp, that he feels as if all Hell has literally broken loose. And there is no escape from Hell.