Prominent UK politician Elizabeth Mountjoy is unaware that while she was on holiday in Africa, dangerous parasites entered her body. She quickly got over three days of food poisoning and arrived home feeling fit, healthy and energised. At work she suddenly becomes more empathetic but starts to take dangerous risks. The parasites have lodged in her brain and are affecting her behaviour, causing her to undertake reckless actions that could destroy her career.
Her long-time aide, Julien Fellows, cautions against her suggestions, but she dismisses his advice, something she had never done before.
She is contagious and unwittingly infects others, including some younger people, the consequences of which prove disastrous. Detective Naomi Charlton returns from her honeymoon hoping for an easy start back at work but is immediately thrust into an investigation of a suspected suicide, though she quickly realises that it's a murder.
Is the death connected to the infection? How far will the infection spread?
