Following the devastating impact of foot-and-mouth disease, hill-farmer Paddy Fenton is facing financial ruin. When a casual acquaintance offers to lease one of his outbuildings for cash, temptation of making a little money on the side is too good to turn down. He agrees - and doesn't enquire too closely into what might be happening there. It's the worst decision Fenton has ever made. A police raid on his barn uncovers the production of 'smokies' - illegal meat manufacturing - and the farmer is accused as an accessory. The criminal underworld that Fenton has unwittingly entered stretches far beyond the local countryside.<BR>It is down to lawyer Eric Ward to rescue Fenton but it soon becomes clear that meat manufacturing is the least of their worries as they become embroiled in the middle of a bitter and violent turf warfare dispute. Botched operations, a divided and corrupt workforce, and a bleak landscape filled with desperate and disillusioned characters provide the backdrop for Ward's chilling journey into the dark underworld of the north, where it is not always clear who is running, or exactly who they are running from.