John Anselm is a former Beirut hostage, a foreign correspondent who went to one war too many. A burnt-out-case, he lives in his family's ancestral house in Germany, working for a semi-legal and near-broke surveillance firm and wrestling with his own fractured identity and family history. His intelligence work collides with the lives of Con Niemand, an ex-mercenary and professional survivor, and ambitious London journalist Caroline Wishart. They are caught in a nightmare of violence and intrigue that can only end with the uncovering of long-buried secrets.

Temple writes of a shadowy world peopled with intense, globetrotting characters who use espionage, double crossings, and political information to gain leverage. In Temple's world, secrets can be worth more than human life.