1976. The Shah of Iran, closest ally of the USA and self-proclaimed policeman of the Middle East, reigns supreme, atop his Peacock Throne. Bolstered by US support in the form of the most sophisticated arsenal of weapons in the region paid for by the billions of dollars earned from the sale of oil, he seems invincible, omnipotent.
Forty thousand Americans live and work in the country, having a wonderful time and living the Persian Dream, under the benign patronage of the Shah.
Jordan-fresh out of SUNY, leaves her home in Schenectady to take up an English teaching position at Tehran University. Everything seems to be going well, until Jordan begins to hear the dreaded names, Khomeini and SAVAK, whispered in the hallways of the school, and things suddenly begin to unravel. Soon, however, Jordan meets the dashing Ahmad Khosravi, Captain of the Shah's most loyal Imperial Guard, and Jordan is lulled into a sense of security; Jordan seems to have reached the happiest stage of her life.
Soon afterwards, Jordan is caught in a revolution mad country, with no hope of escape.
Languishing in an Iranian jail, accused of murder, it seems like Jordan's fate is sealed, for not even the US Embassy in Iran can help her.