The novel is written in chapters that describe the events of a day at random times.
3:17 AM
Igor is waiting at a bar in Hotel Martinez after having arrived earlier that day in order to capture a sight of his wife and her lover who are attending the Canners Film Festival. He is disgusted of the vanity surrounding the place. He is armed and has carefully executed plans to kill people to get his wife back.
7:22 AM
Igor gets up with some jet lag, but dresses and goes out with the intention ‘to destroy the worlds’. He observes a girl, Olivia, selling some artifacts and pays her enough to attract her attention and begins a conversation. The girl gets uncomfortable but he forces her to sit by showing the gun. He then kills her using techniques from Sambo, a deadly martial art. Returning back, sends a message from his phone.
11:00 AM
Gabriela, a struggling actress from Chicago reflects on her life, and how a minor improvisation at a play when she was very young affected her decision for a career in later years. She is worried because she had spent almost all of her savings to come to Cannes, and was 25 years’ old which is old in the film industry. She receives a call for an audition and prepares to leave.
11:45 AM
Igor observed Olivia’s dead body from afar till its discovered by her parents. Leaving her, he goes on to look for his next victim and contemplates the usage of mobile phones and how it has destroyed any privacy on intimacy. He finds an important-looking man, Javits, and decides to kill him.
12:26 PM
Javits Wild contemplates his life as a successful and rich film distributor, that how he has forgotten to be happy. He keeps a list of things that are ‘normal’ because normal things are not what one thinks of them to be. He feels a sharp prick at the back of his head and founds a needle. He and his security guards are not alarmed until he begins to lose feelings in his arm.
12:44 PM
Maureen contemplates her life as an ambitious film-maker. She had made spiritual erotica film that she had done using all her life-savings and has secured a meeting with Javits Wild after much effort. She is excited about the project and is preparing to accept whatever he offers to get a chance. However, she sees him collapsing and after learning where he was being taken, runs after him.
12:53 PM
Gabriela cracks the audition after faltering a bit but gains confidence realizing that she has nothing to lose. She is told to meet a Mr. Gibson.
1:19 PM
Inspector Savoy learns from a pathologist who had been studying the body of Olivia that she was killed by someone expert in martial arts.
1:28 PM
Ewa and Hamid arrive from a lunch in a helicopter. He tries to engage her in conversation but she appears distant. She had just received the message from Igor and given his history of sadist violence, since he has already murdered people for simply destroying their peace, fears for Hamid.
1:37 PM
Jasmine contemplates the world of modeling, the expectations, and disappointments due to one’s looks and her journey from a black immigrant from Rwands to Belgium to Cannes.
1:46 PM
Igor wakes up confused about his purpose and guilty for killing people for no fault of theirs. He decides to surrender to police and confesses killing Olivia to the first police man he meets but is dismissed for being ‘in sun too long’. He takes it as a sign from God and decides to continue his mission.
1:55 PM
Gabriela goes to the yacht to meet the director of the film, and the Star. She makes an honest impression on both which makes the Star think of his superficial life. Gibson explains the conditions of the contract and how people in films are not as rich as they show off.
3:44 PM
Hamid prepares to go to a fashion show but Ewa tries to delay. He spots the couturier who employed him in his youth. He was financed by a Sheikh for his education. He later used the Sheikh’s contacts to open his own business and now after getting success was ready to produce a film.
4:07 PM
Savoy finds a report from Europol that Javits was laundering money from illegal businesses using film distribution as a front and was under investigation. So, it was likely that he was killed to avoid any witnesses.
4:16 PM
Igor is met by a drunk Maureen who after having lost all her chances with Javits, gets attracted by Igor’s elegance. He invites her to a lonely spot where she is murdered by him. A boy witnesses the whole scene and calls for police.
4:34 PM
Jasmine reflects upon her life, that after witnessing a traumatic incident she decides to get out of Belgium. She meets a photography agency who try to fish money out of her but she refuses and is left heartbroken. However, the second photographer she finds is much professional. Jasmine is ‘discovered’ and falls in love with the photographer.
4:43 PM
Gabriela reaches a hotel room called, The Temple, with a lot of accessories and products by many designers that are kept strictly to be given to people who have a lot of star-following for their advertisement. She is dressed and sent to walk on red carpet.
4:52 PM
Igor is getting doubts and wants to quit, but he is convincing himself that he’s being tempted by the devil to denounce his mission. He thinks of the time when Ewa asked for a divorce and he discovered that she was having an affair. He got her spied and learner that she though he was ‘unbalanced’ and that she was scared of him. He considers all this her regret and that she yearns to come back to him, but doesn’t have courage to do it.
5:06 PM
Hamid and Ewa attend a fashion show of Jasmine’s partner. He watches her there and realizes that she could bring much attention to his brand. Ewa receives more messaged and is terrified, but says nothing to Hamid.
5:15 PM
Savoy is asked to get in touch with Stanley Morris, an ex-Scotland Yard, who explains him the lack of motive and different signatures in all the murders. Only common thing he deduces is acute knowledge of the human anatomy.
6:50 PM
Gabriela and the Star go up the Red Carpet at Cannes and are photographed. She is anxious and excited. He reveals to her of the conflict that the glamour attracts him and repulses him.
7:31 PM
Igor leaves an envelope containing hydrogen cyanide in a random room and leaves with all his valuables and destroying all the evidence of his presence in his room for the gala supper.
7:40 PM
Gabriela along with the androgyne makes the journey to the corridor where photographers are clicking everyone of importance. She is hopeful but is dejected when everyone begins to click Jasmine coming behind her.
8:12 PM
Jasmine enters the party feeling betrayed as her partner and agent accepted Hamid’s offer to work exclusively for him without even asking her. She is there as part of her contract. Despite Gabriela hating her for stealing her thunder initially, the two women begin to like each other.
8:21 PM
The police decide to give a press release hinting that the murder of Star and the film director with a poisoned envelope was a crime of passion, so as to not create any panic with the news of a serial killer on loose. Savoy in his investigation reaches Igor’s room and decides to wait for him to come.
9:02 PM
Stanley Morris studies the death of the star and other victims and deduces that he is staying for a very short time and they have to wait for his next killing for more clues.
9:11 PM
Igor converses with Gabriela and Jasmine and begins to wonder if he had poisoned Hamid and Ewa by mistake as both haven’t arrived yet. He begins to fall in despair but notices the two coming along as well as a plain clothes police officer. Understanding that he is looking for alone men, he joins the two ladies back.
9:20 PM
Stanley Morris is getting frustrated for not getting any clues from the murder investigations. He is worried that this might affect his reputation. However, he deduces that the killer is killing people to send messages to someone and he’ll stop soon given his frequency.
10:19 PM
Igor is led to the dinner by Gabriela, where Hamid approaches him and offer to talk in a corner. Ewa accompanies all three out of fear for Hamid. Gabriela leaves sensing the discomfort. After some argument, the three go outside on Igor’s invitation which Hamid, in his ego, refuses to refuse. Igor shoots the two after some more arguing and discards his gun.
10:55 PM
Gabriela runs into Igor again who offers to drop her home. She goes to sleep thinking of a really lucky day and the amazing days yet to come.
11:11 PM
Jasmine returns to her partner and declares that she will not work with Hamid. She had been inspired by Igor’s words about love and vanity. Her partner accepts and begins to prepare mentally for the battle with Hamid.
1:55 AM
Igor is leaving Cannes in his private jet without any remorse or guilt except for trying to surrender himself earlier. He is convinced that all the deaths were Ewa’s fault and she alone could have prevented it. He is the winner, but he is not alone. The soul of his first victim appears to be guarding him as an angel.
