I tell myself I've chosen to live, but the water knows the truth. Waves brush my arms, soft as shroud linen. The water knows I have to die. Three years after his older brother is recruited by the Somali militia group Al Shaabab, Abdi and his family are kidnapped by Americans. In exchange for their freedom, he reluctantly agrees to go undercover to rescue his brother and help foil deadly attacks. After months in their ranks, Abdi finally escapes. Haunted and alone on the streets of Kenya, he steals what he can to get by. But an arrest for petty theft sets in motion a chain of events that force him to confront the past he's been so desperately trying to forget.