Seeking to escape a traumatic past, an American expatriate in Kyoto finds his fragile stability threatened by the encroaching shadows of his previous life. Christopher Ransom attempts to cultivate a disciplined existence through the practice of karate and teaching English, hoping to bury the memories of violence he witnessed at the Khyber Pass. However, his life in the expatriate community of Kyoto is disrupted when the ghosts of his history begin to manifest in his current surroundings. The narrative follows his struggle to maintain control as he is drawn toward an unavoidable confrontation with his past, framed through a lens of cultural displacement and personal disillusionment.

This novel is widely recognized as a significant entry in the tradition of exile literature, reflecting the specific anxieties of the post-Vietnam era. Critics often highlight the author's ability to balance the atmospheric setting of Kyoto with the internal psychological unraveling of the protagonist. The work is noted for its deliberate pacing, which mirrors the protagonist's attempt to maintain control amidst mounting external pressures. Readers frequently observe that the book serves as a meditation on the futility of running from one's history, regardless of the distance traveled.