From distant corners of the globe, three strangers risk everything to reach the shores of the United States. In Ethiopia, Tesfaye abandons his post at the Ministry of Defense and attempts to escape the country while a crazed rebel commander hunts him down for reasons he will spend years trying to fully understand. Lin's mother forces her to leave China to protect her from the same fate that led to her father's disappearance. In Mexico, Sofia's health rapidly deteriorates, so she leaves behind her two young children and the memory of a murdered husband. These three do not realize just how perilous their journeys will be, nor do they know that reaching U.S. soil will just be the beginning. The dire circumstances that cause them to flee their homelands follow them across oceans and deserts. As Tesfaye, Lin, and Sofia confront their pasts, a federal immigration agent seeks to unravel their new lives. In the process, their once divergent paths ultimately draw closer together. Although Five Grounds is a novel, the story lines are grounded in true historical and contemporary events.