A warm summer in Montreal. Two black men, Man and Bouba, share an apartment. Man is an ambitious author, writing on The Great Novel. Bouba is a lazy amateur philosopher who quotes the Koran. Man's habit of picking up young white women makes many young white men jealous...

A day in the life of a Quebec magazine writer - his fortieth birthday - from his dream before waking to his last act before sleeping. He looks back over his life, his thoughts, and his loves.

After two boys are found dead and scalped in a remote cabin, a corrupt police chief puts the blame on an innocent indigenous man. Charlie Miton, who left this town a decade ago and never thought he'd come back, returns to help clear the name of his friend and find the truth.