In the remote sands of the Moroccan desert, a rifle shot rings out...detonating a chain of events that will link an American tourist couple'sfrantic struggle to survive, two Moroccan boys involved in an accidentalcrime, a nanny illegally crossing into Mexico with two American childrenand a Japanese teen rebel whose father is sought by the police in Tokyo.Separated by clashing cultures and sprawling distances, each of these fourdisparate groups of people are nevertheless hurtling towards a shareddestiny of isolation and grief.