Can a person change so profoundly that they become someone entirely new? Or will they always be the person whom they were? These questions lie at the heart of this techno thriller and locked room murder mystery. A pioneering biomedical company believes that they have cured five imprisoned serial killers using an amygdalotomy procedure, and the company avers before a federal court that the prisoners are now fundamentally new people. Therefore the court releases the prisoners, and the biomedical company flies them and their own staff to a luxurious hotel in Alaska for a celebration and a public relations event.

But Daniel Larch, the CEO of the company, is having trouble. Larch's adult stepson catches him having an affair with the company lawyer, the Russians are trying to buy Larch out, and an aggrieved relative of one of the serial killers' victims appears unexpectedly at The Endicott Hotel.