When Larry Yapici, permanent student at Berkeley in San Francisco, sets off for Istanbul to claim an unexpected inheritance, he has no idea that his first overseas trip will take such an unexpected and dangerous turn. Within a few days he and his cousin Nedim from Germany, are swept up in an adventure that is to take them to some of the most far-flung, inhospitable places on earth. It also soon becomes clear that there are a number of parties with more than a passing interest in their quest-a quest that sets Larry and Nedim on a path of discovery that challenges them to question everything they had previously learnt about the history of mankind. Whether they will survive these challenges is another matter.