Adrian Ormache, a high-flying lawyer with a beautiful wife and two daughters, leads a privileged and glamorous life in one of Lima's wealthiest neighbourhoods. But when his mother dies, he discovers a letter amongst her possessions making shocking claims about her now long-dead husband, Adrian's father - a commander in the army during the Peruvian Civil War of the 1980s. As well as being linked to atrocities committed against the 'Shining Path' guerrillas, it appears that he also kidnapped and kept a local girl, whose family now seeks retribution.

Shocked out of his comfortable existence, Adrian becomes obsessed with finding the girl at the heart of the mystery, and sets out to face the harrowing realities of Peru's recent past, and uncover the truth about his father.