In a village outside Edinburgh, there is doubt that a genetically modified crop being grown is actually the one licensed by the government. Steven Dunbar, a medical investigator with Sci-Med is sent to investigate, but finds that the farmer who made the complaints, Thomas Rafferty, is a well known drunk. Rafferty has also applied for accreditation as an organic farmer, with the backing of two venture capitalists — who turn out to be ex-SAS, and possibly still working for the government in some capacity.As Steven investigates further his own life comes under threat, as does the survival of the village, and he must band together with his few allies to solve the mystery of the original complaint and the ever larger picture which slowly becomes clearer...

Saudi Arabia, 1991. Troops stationed at the Dhahran airbase are in a state of high alert. The chemical warfare detectors have sounded and the soldiers scramble to put on their protective suits. They sit in tense silence, reminding themselves of the vaccinations which will protect them from chemical weapons. Then the all-clear sounds, and the troops rejoice that they are unharmed — or so they think...England, 2002. Those same troops are getting ill. Their families are getting ill. Young ex-soldiers are dying from mysterious and varied diseases. And the survivors are angry. Steven Dunbar, a medical investigator with an elite Government agency, decides to probe further. But what he discovers shocks him to the core. For the deadliest threat of all lurks not in the Saudi oilfields or in Iraq, but in the plush boardrooms of Whitehall. And if something isn't done soon, then more innocent people will die.

When an apparent animal rights stunt sends shockwaves from the quiet English countryside to the corridors of Whitehall, Sci-Med, an elite investigative agency, sends Dr Steven Dunbar to uncover the truth. However, as a series of brutal incidents lays siege to the unassuming villagers, it is clear that even those held responsible are unable to explain the events or predict what is yet to come. Encountering even more frightening security measures enforced by unknown authorities, Dunbar realises that those who might hold the keys to the mystery are not prepared to help him, and those who have unleashed it will stop at nothing to fulfil their apocalyptic ambitions.As our most sophisticated means of protection are shown to be useless, the ex-Special Forces medic is tested to the limit. Alone in a race against unspeakable tragedy, he must imagine the unthinkable — and all he knows is that, when the storm breaks, it’ll already be too late.

Steven Dunbar gets the news that an old friend, Dr Simone Ricard of Medicins Sans Frontieres, has died in an accident while attending a scientific meeting in Prague. She and her team have been working to eradicate polio in the border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan and have discovered a possible reason for their failure to do so — fake teams put in by the CIA. She has gone to Prague to publicise this but the meeting organisers won’t let her speak — they already know the reason and have accepted the CIA apology. They think it will only make matters worse if wider publicity is sought.