From the moment F., a woman filmmaker, accepts the assignment to go to the Al-Hakim ruins to investigate the rape and murder of the wife of Otto von Lambert, a psychiatrist, she finds herself becoming the central character in a deepening mystery. In the unnamed Arab country where the crime occurred, she is unwittingly involved in a labyrinthine quest for an elusive truth, with frightening consequences at every turn. Under vigilance by the police, she discovers a recent photograph of the supposed murder victim happily reunited with her husband. But what is even more unnerving, F. is trapped in an increasingly apocalyptic landscape riddled with political intrigue, crimes of mistaken identity, espionage, and terrorism.