Paul Rainbird survives being hit by a falling scaffolding pole, during which he has a Near-Death Experience (NDE). During the NDE, a man claiming to be his biological father, together with his late grandmother, warn him that his life is in danger. Strange. The man he's known all his life as his father, was at breakfast that very morning.

Paul visits Marcus Coaker KC, a lawyer known for taking on cases involving Near-Death Experience. Paul is the youngest of the Rainbirds, one of the oldest and richest families in the world. Over 100 years ago it was pivotal in setting up an organisation that, even to this day, manipulates governments, and decides which nations will fail and which will succeed. Internally, they refer to themselves as The Corporation which is managed by the Group of Elders . For decades, investigators and journalists have tried to penetrate them, with absolutely no success.

At 25 years of age and still learning the ropes, Paul's first 'Corporation' assignment on his own takes him to Maldovia and Beldatia, where he must monitor certain projects, unaware of the full scope of  The Corporation's activity in these countries. As a result of his NDE, his powers of precognition are greatly increased, through which he gets some very dark premonitions. 

Marcus is convinced that the warnings from Paul's NDS are true and that his life is very much in danger. Someone clearly doesn't like Paul's new responsibilities in The Corporation. Could it be his direct contact with the government computer systems of these countries? Is someone in the Corporation acting against its interests?

Marcus's determination to save Paul takes him into the dark world of murder and the manipulation of nations, where people will stop at nothing to achieve the Corporation's global objectives, including taking the lives of members of their own families.