Micky Malone lives in Bethesda, dines at Taco Bell, takes a vacation only when he has to, and feels happiest when connected to the many gigabytes of his computer. When an unfortunate chain of events forces him to go on a business trip to Peshawar, an "unpleasant border town in the most troubled part of the troubled country of Pakistan," it doesn't take long for his worst fears about foreign destinations to come true. The Inter-Continental Hotel is comfortable enough, its Moghul Buffet lavish, but Malone cannot shake his growing fear that something really bad is about to happen to him. When it does, a mysterious message smeared in blood on the hotel's ice machine will be the only clue eager young Detective Iqbal has to go by, when he is dispatched from the capital to find out who killed the American.