Blessed and cursed with near-eidetic memory, Catherine Wheel understands much more about the world than she wants to. Her unique ability and her vast intelligence have helped her build a successful Manhattan design firm, but they've also compromised her life's relationships. Upon the suspicious death of a man she loved years before, Catherine travels to Laos to discover the truth of what happened to him. She never imagines though that being framed, arrested, tortured and pursued by Communist forces in running gun battles against armored personnel carriers could possibly be on her itinerary.