The place is Guatemala, the time is now, and issues of culture, manhood, love, immigration, race, justice and moral courage are all in play.

Pat, a black college professor from California, is on sabbatical at a language academy in Antigua. He's also on the rebound from a bad breakup. Hoping to put that behind him, he attempts a recreational climb of 14,000-foot Tajumulco which nearly costs him his life. Still, Pat's rescuer is the last person he'd want it to be.

But Pat himself soon has the chance to save the life of Sarnac, a young Mayan man being pursued through Antigua’s streets by MS-13. A hidden stash of money is involved, and a clever plan to enlist a reclusive gringo expat promises success, though it ends with a strange new turn.

Back in California, Pat's sabbatical is over. Then a Guatemalan landscape worker he’s befriended falls into the hands of ICE. From inside a crowded holding cell, we learn of the detainee’s past, his desperate trip through Mexico and his unique means of penetrating the US border. Pat, meanwhile, mounts a high-stakes effort to free him.