In the mid-1990s, Emilio Renzi leaves his unstable life in Argentina to take a visiting position at a prestigious university in New Jersey. Settling in for a semester of academic quietude, he is unexpectedly swept up in a secret romance with his colleague, the brilliant and enigmatic Ida Brown. But their clandestine relationship is cut brutally short by an apparent car accident. Discontented with the police's lackluster inquiries into Ida's death, Renzi begins his own investigation. His suspicions are piqued as details emerge about a bizarre string of attacks targeting scientists and researchers. Then a radical manifesto appears in the press threatening continued violence. As he delves deeper into Ida Brown's past, Renzi discovers a link between her and the terrorist that sets him on a path of no return: he must discover once and for all whether she was a victim or accomplice. Renzi's quest for truth exposes a darker side of humanity that will force him to confront the systems and culture that could produce such a misguided killer.