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On a gray morning, Edward Fletcher waits patiently on a quiet stretch of beach at Killamore Strand. From the sea, another mustached man named Jennings, wearing identical looking clothing, arrives in a row boat. The two meet face to face and then, they exchange identities: Fletcher becomes Jennings and Jennings becomes Fletcher. We don't know anything more about these men or where each of them came from or why they are meeting to exchange identities. Neither one of them knows the other personally, but they greet and say goodbye to each other with warm regards.
Then something goes terribly wrong shortly after this exchange, leaving the old Fletcher terror-stricken and forced to take desperate measures to try to save the old Jennings and himself. But the damage is done. There are too many witnesses and Fletcher must go into hiding. With the Garda (the Irish police force) hot on his trail and the news of the manhunt for the "killer-at-large" quickly reaching the public, the situation becomes all the more dicey for Fletcher as he dodges close calls at every turn. He enlists the help of friends and allies and craftily maneuvers the Irish countryside, outsmarting the Garda and the kidnappers, all while he searches for answers to what is happening and why.
Chris O'Grady's novel harks back to the old fashioned mystery stories of crime, mistaken identities, and good guys versus bad. The plot is thick with twists and turns and clues that lead Fletcher closer to the truth. Danger is always around every corner, and Grady builds the suspense nicely. It's certainly a guessing game until the end, and it's all the reader can do to keep pace with Fletcher along his dangerous mission.