When a research institute in the Mojave Desert falls under suspicion in the aftermath of 9/11, a Turkish hydrogeologist is "in the wind"; the American office manager is detained as a material witness; a Mexican herpetologist needs to find a place of safety; a US college dropout must decide if violence is the answer; DIY citizen-scientists conduct unconventional experiments; and an FBI specialist, born in a refugee camp in Africa, proves his loyalty to his adopted country.

How do the dots connect? How do the puzzle pieces fit? With skeptical eye and fearless ear to the ground, Diane Lefer explores the human cost of the security state. In a novel spanning cultures and continents, an international cast of richly imagined characters have in common an unease that may well be true of most of us: feeling – or being seen as – out of place.