Rules of Engagement is the first in a quartet of novels chronicling some of the events in the life of John Gothard. John Gothard, a student of hydraulics, takes a vacation job one summer in a private hotel close by a small Sussex village not far from the South Downs. In common with many similar establishments, things are not all they seem on the surface. The Priory has all manner of problems going for it. Apart from the fact that this story takes place in one of the hottest summers of the century, and that things come to a disastrous close, there is little resemblance to L P Hartleys "The Go Between".