The novel is a crime story that begins with the apparent suicide of a young American student in Stockholm. The investigation leads a small team of police officers through a complex web of international espionage, corruption, and the real-life assassination of Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme, exploring themes of treachery and the search for truth within a murky political world.
The novel is an epic historical fiction that spans over 300 years, from the late seventeenth century to the present day. It follows the descendants of two penniless Frenchmen who arrive in New France (North America) to work as woodcutters, or "barkskins". The story explores themes of environmental change, the history of the North American forests, cultural clashes between European settlers and Indigenous peoples, and the long-term consequences of resource exploitation.
The book is an investigative work by South African journalist De Wet Potgieter, in which he claims to present the full story of Al-Qaeda's presence in South Africa. The claims made in the book were previously published in an article by Potgieter in 2013, which caused controversy and was later retracted by the Daily Maverick. The book includes an exploration of the involvement of the so-called "White Widow" (Samantha Lewthwaite) operating on an illegally acquired South African passport, especially in the context of the Westgate Mall attack in Nairobi.
