The clouds had rolled away to the south, nudged by the red ball slowly emerging over the eastern horizon. Pinks, oranges, golds and purples streaked sky and ice. The beauty was breathtaking, like no other crime scene Magnus had visited.

April 2010.
Erika watches the grainy images of death unfold across her laptop screen: a middle-eastern street, a UN truck, its occupants mown down as they emerge from the vehicle, a babble of foreign language, military discussions and commands. She is sickened and angry. FreeFlow must get this out onto the web. But they have to check it first, verify it. The group agree to meet in Iceland to do the necessary preparation. It's a good choice. Last year Erika appeared on Iceland TV encouraging the idea of establishing a haven for free information there and with the country still feeling the effects of the banking crash – the idea had been well received. A couple of days later FreeFlow sets up base in a rented house in Reykjavik. It's good to get together again and there are some new helpers to meet. But their sound specialist hasn't arrived yet which means a delay in verifying the crucial sound track. Someone suggests they do some quick sight-seeing whilst they have the chance; take a trip to see a volcano. Forever driven by duty and work, Erika objects but finds herself outvoted. The group drives out to the nearest glacier and crater's edge where they find that there are still some other sight-seers even though the weather is drawing in and the visibility is worsening.
Back in Reykjavik, Police Sergeant Magnus Jonson stares at the "crime wall" he has set up in his rented room. The crime in question is the unsolved murder of his father in Boston. Taking a swig at his beer he stands considering where in the family story to place the photo of his younger brother. He is interrupted by a call to work, a murder in the Hvollsvöllur district – to be exact at the edge of the volcano there; a member of a group of "foreign journalists" has been stabbed. But the "journalists" turn out to be members of the on-line activist group – Freeflow. The presence of Magnus at their interview does not go down well. Magnus is Icelandic-born and raised in America. Erika, the group leader, is convinced he is CIA and there is an angry, punch-throwing scene between Magnus and the group's well-connected Icelandic lawyer. But that's nothing compared to what is to come when Eyjafjallajökull erupts. Then, with no flights in or out of Iceland, the pressures will rise and there will be yet another death.