Former IRA hit man Kieran Kelly, embittered by the death of his beloved wife following a misplaced epidural in childbirth, plots revenge against those he holds responsible.

Investigating the cause of her suffering, he discovers that hundreds of thousands of people throughout the world are being maimed by invasive spinal procedures, causing them to suffer the horrific illness, adhesive arachnoiditis. Denial and cover-up by doctors and the pharmaceutical companies, coupled with government indifference, convinces him that his only recourse is to return to the use of terror.

Kelly holds three men directly responsible for his wife's death: Martin Townsend, the alcoholic obstetrician who gave his wife the epidural; Jonathan Tring, the chief scientist of Parados Pharmaceuticals, the company responsible for a drug whose misuse it tacitly encouraged; and Stephen Sellars, the corrupt Secretary of State for Health.

Tring, new in his position, is not responsible for the Machiavellian intrigues of his boss, Jack Proctor, chairman of Parados, and his statuesque American wife, Sharon Proctor. The ruthless pair is involved in a vicious takeover battle with KleinKinloss, a company run by Tring's friend, Abe Klein.

Alerted by his girl friend, reporter Fiona Harrington, the altruistic Tring begins a hunt for the truth that will expose not only his boss, but also the unbridled greed of the Secretary of State. However, Tring does not realise that he, too, is being hunted.

Meanwhile, Kieran Kelly's plans are complicated when he inadvertently falls in love with Countess Magda von Esterhazy, a beautiful Austro-Hungarian aristocrat, herself a victim of arachnoiditis and chairperson of a self-help group of sufferers.

In a dramatic denouement, Magda von Esterhazy tries to persuade Kelly from continuing his desperate act.

Then all hell lets loose.