Novel exploring current issues surrounding asylum seekers, and the use of detention centres in Australia. In a marketplace in Afghanistan a young man sees his father die at the hands of the Taliban. Racing home to protect his wife and children, Karim Mazari finds that he is too late. Grief stricken, he knows that he must flee his homeland if he is to have any chance of survival. In Australia, Layla, an Afghan migrant, begins an underground campaign to help those imprisoned in detention centres. Meanwhile, there are reports of a mysterious virus. Is Australia being targeted for its involvement in world affairs? By the author of 'Safe Haven' and 'Delicate Indecencies'.