Paul Wood and his girlfriend, Talena, were just tourists in Sarajevo, a city still reeling from the aftermath of civil war. But an unexpected encounter makes them a desperate woman's only hope of escape. Now, to get her to safety, they must navigate through the minefield of warlords, criminals, and peacekeepers that is postwar Bosnia.

Pursued by brutal gangsters and unable to leave the country legally, Paul agrees to do a job for a shadowy group of people smugglers in exchange for safe passage. The smugglers seem friendly. The job seems harmless. But when he discovers the secrets seething beneath, the repercussions will propel him on a perilous journey around the world -- from a warlord's compound in lawless Albania, through the jungles of Latin America, and toward an explosive confrontation at the extraordinary Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert.