1599. London is on the brink of revolution... But John Lawley - England's finest swordsman - just wants to be left alone to win back the heart of the woman he loves. And to design the fight scenes for the magnificent new Globe theatre. But in order to remain free to help his old friend Will Shakespeare finish the play that threatens to destroy him, John must dodge the Earl of Essex and Robert Cecil - the two men closest to the Queen. John is doomed by his three devils: whisky, women and the Earl of Essex. And despite every effort to avoid the clutches of the Queen's court, John is dragged back into its intrigues and the hopeless war in Ireland. As a deadly game of power, politics and conspiracy ensues, one that reaches from an ambush in Ireland to an even greater menace in Whitehall, John might just be the man to save England from herself.