In the confusion of a pre-dawn fire fight on a mid east battlefield four men are killed in action by friendly fire; the most devastating, useless and haunting killed in action loved ones can experience.  But these War Dead have a message.  It is a message that is vital to humanity and one that has been falling on deaf ears for millennia.  Through repeated visitations, and the number of war dead growing in each visitation, the message is being delivered in way that even the mightiest military on earth cannot stop.  The message is expressed throughout the book through the development and evolution of many strong and interesting characters.  The message is War is not the answer, we have given enough.

What if the War Dead had something to tell us?  What if after making the ultimate sacrifice their mission was incomplete?  What if their sense of duty was much broader than the last order given? 

These are not obvious realizations that come to family members visited by men and women who were killed in action but through repeated visitations these war dead finally get the message through.

Cindy Johnson is one of the family members grappling with not only seeing her husband Roy after he was killed by friendly fire on a Mid East battlefield but also holding him. After witnessing Roy a second time, in front of two military officers, she begins to contact other families of soldiers killed in action who have had similar experiences feeling that there is more going on than hauntings. 

 Sergeant Gabriel Gordon, who is recuperating from war wounds in an American Military hospital, is coming to terms with the knowledge that his men Roy Johnson and Joe Williams, who were killed in action, are standing by his bed every night.  He sees other deceased soldiers standing by the beds of every wounded man in the ward and begins looking into the reason why these men are not at rest.

 What Cindy Johnson, Gabriel Gordon and others are about to find out is beyond their control and the message is being delivered all over the world.