Auckland, 1951: A man overboard, a murder and a lot of loose ends....

The workers and the government are heading for bloody confrontation and the waterfront is the frontline. But this is a war with more than two sides, and nothing is what it seems. Into the secret world of rival union politics, dark political agendas and worldwide anti-communist hysteria steps Johnny Molloy, soldier turned private eye, who has been hired by an insurance investigator to find a supposedly dead man – a major player in one of the trade unions fighting both the government and the other unions. 

Caitlin O’Carolan, a feisty young reporter, is following her own leads. Together they begin to uncover a conspiracy that goes to the heart of the Establishment – and which will threaten their own lives in the process.