Successful GP Mona Harcourt receives word that her brother has been kidnapped in Pakistan while en route back to the UK. The family's shock is not made any easier as it emerges her brother's teenage son Danny has aroused the interest of the police counter-terrorism unit following his disappearance from university, so Mona attempts to find Danny before the police do.
Having secretly got in touch with Danny in Lahore, Mona is approached by police counter-terrorism chief Vivien Barnes to travel to Pakistan and identify Kareem's body. Despite her husband Guy's resistance, Mona immediately flies out and tries to make contact with her nephew, but when she absconds from a Lahore mortuary to attend a rendezvous with Danny, the GP's search leads her to a remote part of the city and grave danger.