It's 2003 and while Iraq goes haywire in the Northern Gulf, down in Khafira other dangers await. International news agency correspondent Will Hartson stumbles on a story linking what should have been unconnected deaths in the sea and a well-to-do apartment block.
Nothing is what it seems anywhere as the action roams from Washington to Khafira, Russia, London and back again.
And tangled up in the netting are the futures of a hopeless expat banker and a world-weary high class callgirl. Step on board, it's a hot, fast ride.