When the Emir of Manaar offers Blacklight a huge sum to play a New Year's Eve show in his capital city, he's immediately refused. There are good reasons: the band's prior experience with al-Wahid and his decadent twin daughters, the razor-thin timing, a band member's impending rehab. But the Emir makes an offer they can't refuse, and Blacklight prepares to play the biggest live show in their history.

From the moment their plane sets down in Manaar, guitarist JP Kinkaid and his wife Bree are aware of disturbing undercurrents beneath the formality and opulence. When their personal equerry is found with his throat slashed just days before showtime, Blacklight's head of security, Patrick Ormand, is barred from the investigation. As the civilised facade around the event begins to crumble, it becomes clear that sending a quarter of a million fans home happy will be a lot simpler than getting themselves out of Manaar alive.