The protagonist Vincent Grecco mirrors the author's own sojourn as an expatriate in Vietnam during the war. What does Grecco find so deplorable? How does he strike out to set things straight? What alternatives are left for him to take?
Vince Grecco, a maverick, is transferred from the Refugee Division's main office in Saigon to a remote output in the Mekong Delta as a Refugee Advisor. He lands in the very midst of the war staying at military advisory team conclaves and Special Forces' A-camps.
Grecco moves from one calamity to another clashing with lawless expats, self-serving bureaucrats and bigoted martinets. Never very enthusiastic about the war, Grecco grows more and more disenchanted. Corruption, prejudice, tyranny and genocide radicalize him. After a good deal of soul searching interspersed with spasms of rage, Grecco has an emotional breakdown.