Spain, December 1812
 
In a deathly cold winter on the Spanish-Portuguese border, a group of deserters take British hostages and it falls to Major Richard Sharpe to lead the perilous rescue mission in the biting cold mountains - where he faces one of his oldest, and most cunning, adversaries.
 
The British army's fate rests on the hostages' liberation.
 
Outnumbered and attacked from two sides, it looks like surrender or certain death on the Gateway of God pass. Yet prepared to hold his ground, or risk his life trying, is Sharpe . . .