Hard Sun

Malcontent police detective DCI Charlie Hicks is deeply suspicious of his new partner, DI Elaine Renko. But their first investigation into what seems like a straightforward case of suicide exposes a state secret that will connect them for life.

Renko persuades a journalist to publish the Hard Sun dossier, instantly rendering her a target for Security Services Agent Grace. The government shuts down the story but the detectives investigate a killer for whom the ‘Hard Sun hoax’ is very real.

Renko investigates evidence that suggests Hicks and Butler were corrupt. A disillusioned former aid worker who believes the truth about Hard Sun wants to challenge God into revealing himself by targeting people who help others. Grace makes Hicks an offer.

London is under siege as the scale and bloodiness of Blackwood’s killing escalates, and Father Dennis becomes a public pariah. Hicks deduces where Renko has hidden the Hard Sun flashdrive. Grace leaves Daniel with shocking information about his father.

The brutal murder of a night-jogger has dire personal implications for Renko and Daniel. Only Hicks and Renko understand the significance of his death. Daniel inadvertently discovers the Hard Sun flashdrive which places him in Grace’s crosshairs.

Tired of operating defensively, Hicks and Renko take the fight to Grace’s door. DCS Bell arrests Grace and brings her in for questioning, but she will not remain outmanoeuvred. Hicks, Renko and Grace’s enmity culminates in a bloody dawn climax.