Jack Taylor has again hit rock bottom: one of his best friends is dead, the other has stopped speaking to him. But Jack isn’t about to embark on a self-improvement plan. Instead, he has taken up a vigilante case against a professor of literature who has a violent habit his friends in high places are only too happy to ignore. And when Jack rescues a preppy American student from a couple of kid thugs, he also unexpectedly gains a new sidekick. Between pub crawls and violent outbursts, Jack’s vengeful plot against the professor soon spirals toward chaos. Enter Emerald, an edgy young Goth who could either be the answer to Jack’s problems, or part of his undoing.