Summer 1990. The Berlin Wall has fallen. In Europe, society is about to spiral upward toward more prosperity and freedom for all. The free market provides the lone blueprint for a life of purpose. But does it? As the sun of plenty shines brighter, the shadows grow darker. And while his professors teach postmodernist dogmas, Johan van Geesteren, a young aristocrat on the threshold of society, is searching for meaning. Where have all the virtues gone? Where are the good people?

When his friends embark on a dangerous hedonic roller coaster, Johan is forced into their stream of destruction and needs all the discipline from his upbringing to remain standing. Will he be able to hold on to his ideals? Is there any truth left out there? Or is the enlightenment project of the Occident, like a modern-day Rome, about to burn to ashes?