When Harry Barnett is informed that his son has been hospitalized in a diabetic coma, he thinks there is some mistake. He doesn't have a son. But Harry soon discovers otherwise. David Venning, a brilliant mathematician working in realms of thought that only a handful of people on earth could even begin to compreh, is now susped somewhere between life and death. The question of Harry's paternity is immediately resolved, but other, darker mysteries quickly intervene. David Venning's tragic condition appears to be either accidental or self-inflicted. But his precious notebooks are missing from the hotel room in which he was found. Two other scientists employed have died in suspicious circumstances. Harry is propelled into an arena of conspiratorial intrigue, brilliantly rered by Goddard's deft and atmostpheric prose. He journeys to Europe and the United States in search of the truth, in an effort to help the son that he's never met.