This is the story of the ruthless rise through the criminal underworld of the trendy young London gangster Hogarth ("Hog"). He exploits the resources of a declining gangster, Ryan, to take over the dominant crime syndicate Scot-Yanks, controlled by the equally ruthless and manipulative Lennox. The key to Hogarth's success is knowledge of a murder arranged by Lennox, of which there is a crucial witness, Ackerman, a one-time private eye who has been blackmailed into working for Scot-Yanks, and bitterly resents Lennox as a consequence.