Carl Strassberger, the son of an old New York banking family, has renounced his position in the business to follow a quiet career as an artist in the south of France. His place has been taken by his brother-in-law, Larry Lucas, an exceptionally brilliant financier. Larry Lucas has been commuting to Paris for months, working on a very large deal. When it is signed and sealed, he returns to New York in triumph. The next day he disappears. It is as if he has dropped off the planet.

Emil Strassberger, patriarch of the family and president of the company, institutes immediate damage control. He hires a large international security firm and imposes a press blackout. He orders an immediate internal audit of all branches of the company, and he requests his son, Carl, to return to New York to head the search for Larry Lucas.

For the first time, Lucas's wife reveals to her family that her husband suffers from a major mood disorder. His emotional life has become a rollercoaster ride between intense depression and manic elation. Lucas's condition may have extreme consequences: wild folly on the one hand and suicide on the other.

What happens to Larry Lucas is a life-or-death matter, and everyone connected with him is involved in his fate. Carl Strassberger is the most deeply affected. He can no longer retreat into his private Eden. He must put himself at risk as he investigates those who live "on the dangerous edge of things."