Freetown, Sierra Leone a devastating civil war has left an entire populace with terrible secrets to keep In the capital's hospital Kai, a gifted young surgeon is plagued by demons that are beginning to threaten his livelihood Elsewhere in the hospital lies Elias Cole, a university professor who recalls the love that obsessed him and drove him to acts that are far from heroic As past and present intersect, Kai and Elias are drawn unwittingly closer by Adrian, a British psychiatrist with good intentions, and into the path of one woman at the centre of their stories