It is 1965 and the god-king Sukarno has brought Indonesia to the brink of chaos. Guy Hamilton, a Western journalist, Billy Kwan, his Chinese-Australian cameraman, and Jill Bryant, a British women whom both men love, are caught up in the violence. Kwan becomes disillusioned with Sukarno and, in an atmosphere charged with political hysteria and betrayal, commits a desperate act. This novel was made into a movie, directed by Peter Weir and starring Mel Gibson, Linda Hunt, and Sigourney Weaver.