Joe Lockhart can barely remember a time before his mother, Nancy, a drug company executive, brought him to Italy to escape her grief after the death of Joe's father. Now, against a background of escalating political violence and Nancy's concerns for his safety, Joe wants to finish high school before returning to the US. He begins translating confidential company files for his mother and Luke, her colleague.The work seems straightforward and harmless. While Nancy and Luke are in Germany on business, Joe uncovers a plot to overthrow the Italian government. Soon, he finds himself kidnapped, wanted by the military police, and racing to help head off a coup d'état.
Lockhart is a tale of personal and political conflict, of recovery from grief, and finding new meaning in the idea of home.