When a rebellious young doctoral candidate at a southern university is compelled to commit a theft of rare books as part of a political protest, she becomes a fugitive hunted not only by the authorities, but by a powerful and vengeful church leader politician, as well as a pair of professional, and ruthless, fortune hunters. An ambitious start-up company in Miami is researching experimental building materials and has hired a New York agency to look into unexplained disruptions in its business operations. On his way to start the job, the lead investigator encounters the woman on the run and they become interlocked in a volatile chain of events that leads to the exposure of political corruption and industrial espionage, and to a priceless rare book that isn't supposed to exist, but which a lot of people are ready to kill for.