The restless Alistair Orzabal finds himself caught up in an unforgiving foreign city, where his persistent, ironic observations of the world around him serve to distract from his fears and protect him from his past. Abruptly, the drudgery of daily life is threatened by the emergence of hope, one that risks derailing the monotony of his reliably, safe life. A prequel to the Goodbye Charlie books, this story permits a glimpse into Orzabal's strange yet intriguing mind. Written in the existentialist style of such books as Camus' L'etranger, this is about one individual trying to understand an absurd world. It highlights the inevitable experience of solitude and individuality, space and confinement - the slowness and boredom of an ordinary life of work and sociability that is filtered through the person's beliefs and traumas. Written with humor and a touch of sarcasm, it shines a light on life's uncertainty and delivers with it a sliver of hope for survival.