With the loss of his father, twelve-year-old Ahmed quits school to support his mother. Growing up in Russian-occupied Gilan, he faces hunger, poverty, fear, and loss, accepting them as God's will. Years later, Ahmed is happily married, successful and content until he moves to Tehran to be near his son at the university. It is a decision that will cost him dearly. Revolution is brewing in Tehran and the university has become a crucible of unrest. Brutal police crackdowns are in force, but when Savak is unleashed, no one is safe. When Ahmed's son becomes involved with revolutionaries, Savak takes notice. But when he falls in love with the daughter of a Savak agent, Ahmed and his family are plunged into a frightening world of murder, deception, torture, and betrayal that threatens to destroy them. Whom can he trust? What can he do when the world around him has gone mad?