Two British writers meet by chance in Berlin. Robert is trying and failing to finish his next book while balancing his responsibilities as a husband and father. Patrick, a recent arrival in the city, is secretive but reveals that he has been ghostwriting the autobiography of a Russian oligarch. The oligarch has turned up dead, and Patrick claims to be a hunted man himself. Robert doubts the truth of Patrick's story-- but it might hold the key to his own foundering novel. Now he must decide what is his for the taking-- and whether some stories are too dangerous to tell. -- adapted from jacket