Pierre is like a neutron bomb who lands amidst suffering humanity in Manhattan in the early 1990s. He, an immigrant from the Languedoc region of France, is an extremely manipulative psychopath who pushes those around him toward their doom, whether via direct action or otherwise. The tale is filled with individuals of varied backgrounds, often in academia, who suffer from his efforts to seek domination over and revenge upon any who stand in his way. Some characters, like Jacque, his relatively sane cousin who initially shelters Pierre in the US, are damned by a felt moral duty to thwart Pierre. Others, like Pierre's girlfriend Jenine, manage both complicity and rebellion. Other powerful, narcissistic characters fall to Pierre's life-deforming moves. Ultimately only one character survives Pierre's depredations. Whatever that character was responsible for, their actions might go unpunished. Who will it be? Pierre or his opponents or a lucky victim?