For London the worst has happened. There have been riots, uncontrolled fires, outbreaks of savage looting, artillery battles, mass flights. The great city lies three parts deserted, open to marauding gangs and beast-wild individuals, its highways and landmarks tumbled like ruined temples.

To Mark, comparatively safe in less troubled Highgate, there comes a message that his estranged wife is dying in Wimbledon, right across on the far side of the dangerous bowl of the devastated city. Reluctant almost to sticking-point, he sets out to go to her. His journey is a story of adventure through the ruins. As he presses on through the debris, he is always driven, because he knows that Jasmine will die soon...

H. R. F. Keating brilliantly extends the scope of his considerable talent to describe a perilous walk through a dark, violent and lawless London, a desperate journey which becomes more than a personal odyssey of mercy. P. D. James.