The first message sent to Tom Thorne's phone was just a picture - the blurred image of a man's face, but Thorne had seen enough dead bodies to know that the man was no longer alive. But who was he? Who sent the photograph? And why? While the technical experts attempt to trace the sender, Thorne searches the bulletins for a reported death that matches the photograph. Then another picture arrives.
Candide and his tutor Pangloss journey the earth, following the philosophy: All is for the best in this, the best of all possible worlds - A point made by Liebnitz and earlier by Aquinas. This adage, however, is disproved at many turns, with the characters encountering opposition to their outlook. The initially naive Candide realises some of the dark truths of the eighteenth-century world, but could there be any light at the end of the tunnel?