One day, when Tony is on assignment in Rome, tragedy strikes. Aiya, his fiancée is killed in an accident with a drunk driver. A switch is flicked in Tony’s psyche, and the repression of his youth erupts with unprecedented force, sending him on a path of self-destruction. Reckless, he succumbs to his boss’s invitations to get involved in illicit debt collection; the self-control, discipline and etiquette of his training now vanquished by a new taste for unbridled violence. Tony takes to the streets, with predator intent looking for fights, hungry for blood. When his parents approach him for a large sum of money in the hope of treatment for his father’s condition Tony vows to get the funds by any means and embarks on a series of burglaries and violent episodes that finally land him in prison in Cyprus.

Nicosia Central Prison is a sickening melting-pot of depravity and severe psychological torment. In the black silence of solitary confinement, Tony is confronted by the demons of his dark soul. He tries at first to seek solace in meditation and the rituals of his training but the one-time ‘path to enlightenment’ is now some far distant reality.

Back on the prison block, he receives a letter from a stranger, Michael Wright, an Irish missionary working on the island. Tony at first rejects his request to visit, until he hears about the Coca Cola and chocolate offered to prisoners in the visiting room.

Tony is rude and aggressive with Michael, yet week after week the missionary returns, becoming a precious window to the outside world. Though he remains suspicious of his motives, Tony grows to appreciate the man’s warmth and commitment. The months drag by and after a particularly violent episode on the wing an agitated and paranoid Tony confronts Michael about his unprecedented friendship.