A petty thief who called himself John Smith was arrested in 1877, for theft through fraudulent behaviour. He was convicted and sent to prison.

In 1852, Adler and Adolf Beck's father died on a glacier, and their lives separated. One became a respected climate scientist; the other a globally renowned opera singer, or so he claimed. They remained in touch, to share details of the mysterious voices only they could hear.

In 2050, Charles Ramsey also has a twin. Greg is a climate journalist. Charles used to be a police profiler, but his redundancy leads to him being sent home with an experimental chip in his head. His brother urges him to explore a little-known aspect of their family history.

All these people are connected, impossibly, inexorably. All their lives will intersect.