While foundation organizer Nikki falls for a charismatic speaker during a science retreat on a Greek island, her longtime friend, Georgie, finds her plans for a romantic weekend shattered by a temperamental scientist who has lost his senses.

Todd Fremde is an author, a writer of police procedurals and criminal mysteries. Invited to the remote island of Dearth, far across the Dream Archipelago, to talk at a conference, he finds himself caught up in a series of mysteries. How can Dearth claim to be completely crime-free, yet still have an armed police force? Why are they so keen for him to appear, but so dismissive when he arrives? Is his sense of time confused, or is something confusing...