In Sixties Belfast, civil unrest is in the air. Patrick Glennie, whose mother disappeared mysteriously when he was young, is on a quest. Partly, it's to find himself, to discover his identity as an adult, and in this he is guided through the terrors of growing up by his friend, the confident Robert Delgano. All Patrick can offer in return is his knowledge of nature, which suggests an alternative way to live. When they meet again, Robert is in trouble. Patrick fears being pulled into the sordid drug-world inhabited by his friend, only to find that he is already involved and that their youthful friendship was not at all as it seemed. His debt to Robert takes Patrick back to Ireland and then to Spain, where he risks losing everything-even his wife and unborn child. Which life are we truly fitted to lead, the one governed by civilised conventions or a former, more natural one where the game is played by more ruthless rules?