A high-suspense tale of loyalties in the post-9/11 world. Roland Nair calls himself Scandinavian but travels on a U.S. passport. After ten years' absence, he returns to Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, to reunite with his friend Michael Adriko. They once made a lot of money here during the country's civil war, and, curious to see whether good luck will strike twice in the same place, Nair allows himself to be drawn back to a region he considers hopeless. Together they set out to visit Michael's clan in the Uganda-Congo borderland - but each of these travellers is keeping secrets from the others.