A former French Resistance courier encounters the Gestapo officer who once tortured her, sparking a volatile and dangerous reconnection decades after the war. Terese Masson, now living a stable life after surviving Buchenwald, finds her psychological defenses crumbling when she meets Alfred Brunnerman, a man posing as a Swiss architect. As she struggles to reconcile her past trauma with her current obsession, her psychiatrist intervenes by alerting Israeli intelligence to Brunnerman's true identity. The narrative follows their desperate flight, exploring the intersection of historical guilt and personal fixation.

Readers often note the intense and provocative nature of the central relationship, which challenges conventional romantic tropes. Discussion frequently centers on the psychological complexity of the protagonist as she navigates the blurred lines between past trauma and present desire. Critics have highlighted the author's ability to maintain suspense while exploring the darker aspects of human connection. The pacing is generally described as deliberate, focusing more on the internal state of the characters than on rapid action sequences. Many readers find the moral questions posed by the narrative to be the most compelling aspect of the work.