When Phillip Cutler, a young Australian, takes a photograph in Calcutta he intrudes into a vortex of murder and political intrigue, the potential to trigger a war. His holiday turns into a terror-stricken flight across the plains of the Ganges and through the streets of Delhi.

From the President's palace to the peasant's pallet, no-one is what they seem. Cutler is deceived by both enemies and friends. Torn between two beautiful women – provocative Kay and secretive Annapurna – who can he trust?