In 1908, a twelve-year-old Armenian boy and his mother find themselves the only members of their family left in Turkey after the others are smuggled away to America. The two are in the city of Smyrna and watch horrified as events build toward hundreds of thousands of their fellow Armenians being caught up in the genocidal events unfolding.

By 1915, the Turkish government has ordered the elimination or deportation of all Armenians. From a nightmare dream, Souren, now nineteen, realizes that his only chance of survival is by deception of the corrupt government and military-the monster in...