In 1991, Ambassador Maximilian Ophuls--ex-ambassador to India, and America's counterterrorism chief--is murdered on the Los Angeles doorstep of his illegitimate daughter's home by his Kashmiri Muslim driver, who calls himself Shalimar the Clown.

Ex-Israeli operative turned private investigator, Dotan Naor-- to settle a bet-- agrees to locate the missing son of former acquaintance, now ruthless Israeli arms merchant, Willy Mizrachi. Willy, who does not hesitate to sell killing machines to the most heinous players in the world, is desperate to find his only son, Itiel, who has headed to an ashram in the Himalayas. The Himalayas are also host to groups of young Israelis who have completed their...