Malik is a heroin dealer from Alum Rock in Birmingham who hasn't exactly had the ideal start to life. His late father - also a heroin dealer - was shot and killed in his presence and his mother - a lifelong prostitute - suffered as a result and had to be sectioned under the Mental Health Act. As he struggles to survive, doing the best that he can, he is pulled into a web of events the impact of which has the potential to be catastrophic - on a global scale. Grappling with contemporary issues such as trying to come to terms with his identity, religion, terrorism, geopolitics, extremism, and his quite unhealthy personal lifestyle, Malik inadvertently finds himself - rediscovering his affections and emotions - when he's compelled to put an end to the people that had perpetuated his descent into a senseless and chaotic life - in a most unexpected combination of events - and in the process helps thwart a terrorist plot that is as complex as the characters involved.