On Parrish Island， a restricted island off the coast of Virginia， there is a little known and never visited psychiatric facility. There， far from prying eyes， the government stores former intelligence employees whose psychiatric state makes them a danger to their own government， people whose ramblings might endanger ongoing operations or prove dangerously inconvenient. One of these employees， former Consular Operations agent Hal Ambler， is kept heavily medicated and closely watched. But theres one difference between Hal and the other patientsHal isnt crazy. With the help of a sympathetic nurse， Hal manages to clear his mind of the drug-induced haze and pulls off a daring escape. Now hes out to discover who stashed him here and whybut the world he returns to isnt the one he knew. Friends and longtime associates dont remember him， there are no official records of Hal Ambler， and when he first sees himself in the mirror， the face that looks back at him is not the one he knows as his own.