Kemal Kuray is lucky to escape with his life after his beloved F-16 hurtles to the ground in a test flight. Convalescence comes in the form of a comfortable monthly allowance and an opulent apartment in a mysterious neighborhood of Istanbul, inexplicably left to him by an acquaintance in the Air Force. But there's a price to pay. His Edgar Allen Poe-obsessed benefactor sets him on a wild goose chase from the back streets of Istanbul to the broad avenues of Buenos Aires, and finally to Poe's grave in Baltimore. But what exactly is Kemal searching for? Missing persons, yes, but there's more--he is looking for the embodiment of Poe's most famous poem, "Annabel Lee", "to love and be loved."