July 1805: Napoleon's army masses across the Channel -Britain is within hours of invasion and defeat. Only one thing stands in the way -an obscure government bureau of murky origins and shadowy purpose: The Comptrollerate General for Scrutiny and Survey. And, rescued from a shipwreck, his past erased, Tom Roscarrock is their newest agent.

In England, the man who recruited Roscarrock has disappeared, his agents are turning up dead, and reports of a secret French fleet are panicking the authorities. In France, a plan is underway to shatter the last of England's stability. Behind the clash of fleets and armies, there lies a secret world of intrigue, deception, treachery and violence -and Roscarrock is about to be thrown into it headfirst.