As a flyer with the French Air Service during World War I, Louisiana Cajun Quentin Norvell has become a tough fighter pilot in the days before America's entry into the war. When he is badly wounded, he chooses to feign death to stave off further attack instead of jumping from the cockpit to his death-a decision that will have far-reaching consequences for his future state of mind. He crash lands, but survives. While recuperating in a French hospital, Quentin struggles to heal. But even though his body starts to mend, his emotions are open and raw. He sees his actions in the sky as cowardice and resolves to become a focused and deadly killer in the sky. Then the unthinkable happens. Quentin meets and falls in love with a beautiful-and married-woman, Nadine Desnoyers. Descended from a revered French aristocratic family, Nadine is in a loveless marriage to an older French diplomat. But she cannot deny her attraction to Quentin, and the two become star-crossed lovers. After returning to combat, Quentin becomes a celebrated ace. But now that he is famous, French and English diplomats-including Nadine's husband-are eager to use him in their attempts to get America to join the Allies against the Germans. Embroiled in diplomatic intrigue and desperate to have Nadine for his own, Quentin must navigate not only the bullet-ridden skies, but the twisted path of the human heart.