Podtitul: Pravdivý příběh Enájatolláha Akhbarího Když šestiletému Enájatovi zastřelí otce, už nic není jako dřív. V Afghánistánu vládne tálibánský režim, který tyranizuje obyčejné lidi, a nikdo si není jistý životem. Po několika letech hrozeb a ukrývání se matka nakonec rozhodne – vezme synka a jede s ním do Pákistánu. Po třech dnech se chlapec probudí v pokoji úplně sám. Matka je pryč a jemu nezbývá než vyjít ven do nepřátelského světa. Je mu deset let a vydává se bojovat o holý život.
1989, Bari, southern Italy. Giorgio is 22 years old, a model student, living a conventional middle-class life. Francesco is a slightly older fellow student - but far from a model one - who exerts a strange fascination over men and women alike. Giorgio is only vaguely aware of Francesco until one evening their paths cross definitively and Giorgio is sucked into Francesco's world, in a kind of Faustian pact. Giorgio becomes Francesco's pupil and learns to cheat at cards. In return, he will get lots of money, sexual adventures, luxury. Their gambling exploits take them from luxurious villas to low dives, their victims ranging from rich industrialists to human flotsam. Giorgio enters a world where his own image of himself starts to fragment, revealing someone he no longer recognizes: someone who both scares and attracts him. In parallel, we are given the story of the artistically inclined Lieutenant Chiti of the carabinieri who is investigating a series of brutal rapes in Bari. A shocking dénouement draws together the two strands of the story in a wholly unexpected way and brings a catharsis for both Giorgio and Lieutenant Chiti