Struggling author Billy Dye agrees to ghost the memoirs of Manchester gangster Malcolm Priest. But Priest soon wearies of Billy's big mouth and hires his best hitman to take the writer out. The assassin, Rawhead, turns out to be a schoolfriend Billy hasn't seen for twenty years, so he spares Billy's life and hides him away in an old dark house. After Priest learns that Billy is still alive, he lays a trap for Rawhead. As the violence escalates, Billy discovers that his old friend is a terrifying psychopath who will literally stop at nothing to protect him. And when Rawhead takes an interest in Billy's career, no one - not even in the publishing world - is safe...