Fight or flight? Brains or brawn? How do you move forward when intimate knowledge of your own vulnerability holds you back? Some people live through the worst that can happen, only to discover a world where they can no longer tell themselves "It's not going to happen to me." What can a modern man do? This second novel by Joe Lewis addresses the male condition in today's society and the conflicting demands on men to be both civilized, law-abiding citizens while still living-up to the persisting image of men as warriors and providers. It has been compared to the work of social-realists such as Flaubert and Fontane, but can also be viewed as a close cousin to the offspring of writers such as Irvine Welsh and Iain Banks.