To Hungary for a tale of corruption, racism and brutality as neo-Nazis try to oust the new democracy.
British journalist, Charlie Barrow, is mugged in a Budapest street one night. When he recovers, he finds a note stuck to his lapel - "Foreigners Out!" But Charlie is unfazed - he has a nose for a good story. Teaming up with contacts in the police, he uncovers a plot to overthrow the democracy that followed the collapse of communism in Hungary and set up a fascist regime. Masterminding this is Kozma, head of state security, who uses his power and influence to finance a militia based on the Arrow Cross, the Hungarian Nazis who briefly held power at the end of World War 2. Kozma also runs secret camps where Roma (gypsies) are held as slave labour. One of these is Coro who provides Charlie and his mates with the evidence to nail Kozma - his fate is sealed in a shoot out at a derelict steelworks. Charlie gets his story but loses friends on the way. And asks - was it all worth it? As one Hungarian reviewer put it - Hungary is still a confused and gloomy place, disappointed by political change, a mood which " Thompson's novel accurately and successfully conveys".