A dismal, moody sky over the beach at Normandy bears witness to the blood-soaked sands on the infamous day of June 6, 1944. Clouds of malevolence, in the form of a sadistic band of SS Waffen soldiers, darken the property of the Villa of the Four Winds just a few days later, led by a Lieutenant Oberheuser. Set on the quiet outskirts of the tiny village of Oradour-sur-Glane, the villa of Madame Suzanne Dumont is invaded-as is the body of her teenage daughter, and ultimately, her own. Forced to witness the violent gang-rape of his mother and sister, the countenance of the soldiers' conflicted leader is forever burned onto the traumatized psyche of Suzanne's nine-year-old son, Michel. But the fires of suffering do not end with the sick sexual satisfaction of the soldiers. Intoxicated with a frantic desire to obliterate, the soldiers corral the villagers. Executing the men by gunfire and incinerating the women and children who are locked in the church, Michel, along with his friends, Marcel and Helene, narrowly escape the consuming flames by hiding in a crypt found beneath the church. Sixteen years later, engaged to Helene and thriving as an investigative reporter, Michel Dumont is given a controversial assignment: Why are higher-profile refugees-those who had previously fled the Soviet-dominated countries of eastern Europe-now begging the Allies to let them go back east? Michel, accompanied and assisted by Helene, travel to Germany to find answers, fanning the ever-burning embers of vengeance into flame as Michel simultaneously seeks Oberheuser. Attracting the menacing attention of the Soviets and Neo-Nazis, the KGB kidnap Helene and draw Michel into a maelstrom of danger and intrigue. Will Michel kill or be killed? Will he save Helene? Will he be consumed by the fires of vengeance that rage within him?"