Struck off and hooked on prescription pills, disgraced American surgeon Ryan Burkett flies to the war-torn Middle East to identify his murdered twin's body. Staring down at the lifeless form in the mortuary, it is as though Burkett is gazing at his own failings. His brother was first and best - the better athlete, better doctor, better son.

With little reason to go home, Burkett agrees to take over his brother's charitable surgical clinic. Within weeks, however, he is taken hostage by Islamic fundamentalists. Forced into withdrawal - from both drugs and his own self-loathing - Burkett becomes convinced that his captors are his brother's murderers, and that revenge may be the only path to redemption.