In 1962 when Walter Cousins sleeps with his British au pair Diane Burroughs he can have no sense of the magnitude of his error: this brief affair sets in motion a tragedy of epic proportions upending Sophocless immortal tale of fate free will & forbidden desire. At the centre is Ed King an infant given up for adoption who becomes one of the worlds most powerful men. But beneath the gripping story of Eds seemingly inexorable rise to fame & fortune is a dark & unsettling destiny one that approaches with ever-increasing suspense as the novel reaches its shattering conclusion.