Shelby, whose escapades as a foreign correspondent are legendary, is a true relic from the heyday of print news. Shelby's definition of being a journalist involves gun duels in the Middle East, risky love affairs, and calling in his dispatch at the last possible moment. Now sequestered in the shabby Paris office, safely behind a screen, his identity begins to fracture- and ever more inexorably he is drawn back toward the one unforgettable woman of his life, Faria Duclos, who has mysteriously turned recluse in another part of the city. As the newspaper threatens to crumble, long-held rivalries and ruined passions rear their heads, and intrigues of the newsroom begin to boil over.--From front jacket flap.