Ben finds himself held in a hospital for the criminally insane without any knowledge of why he is there.
He manages to establish a counselling rapport with his doctor and begins to piece together his history and why he is suffering from amnesia. He discovers that as an investigative journalist he was sent to Cuba to follow up a corrupt politician. On route he meets Jenny, a girl twenty years his junior, whom he falls in love with.
In Cuba they are mysteriously taken captive by a disciplined group of paramilitaries who are planning a celebration in memory of the capture of Che Guevara in Bolivia in 1967. He realises that he was the victim of a devastating betrayal and that on escaping he learns that some of his friends have been executed. Later he learns that not everything his captors had claimed was true and that there were darker reasons for the kidnapping other than the political opportunism. Further his curiosity and his love of Jenny lead Ben to travel to Matanzas where a severe storm caused a motor accident in which Jenny is killed. He then discovers that his political nemesis had a strong hand in his capture.
This is one revelation too much for Ben as he sinks into a depression which is deepened by the visit of Susanna, another survivor of the kidnap. He learns of his return to Cuba where his troubled mind finds solace in Santeria, the native religion.
Having put most of his traumas in place Ben feels he is ready for release from hospital and agrees to a course of hypnotherapy which might help in expediting the formalities. Ben is devastated by the results which uncover a dark side to his character. Just when his self loathing brings him to a state of hopelessness, a former colleague states her belief in him and helps him discover a sinister plot to implicate Ben in the very story that he was investigating.