In the golden age of the movies, Ben Maxx is a young man with a dream. Travel the world. See the mysterious and fabled cities of the earth. Make pictures that move.He tosses his fresh college diploma into the wind to follow a haunting desire to walk in the footsteps of his great grandfather and namesake, a celebrated world traveler and author, who published books on his travels, and who also lectured extensively with a lanternslide projector, leaving vivid descriptions of life behind walls in far places.
Secure in the belief his great grandfather is looking on, offering encouragement, he boldly begins to follow his dream. For his first film, he takes passage on a ship bound for Rio de Janeiro, expecting a sensuous interlude in a sun-washed paradise.
But the dream, and those footsteps, lead straight into unexpected intrigue and danger.Even before he steps ashore, his world is turned upside down. As the first roll of film passes through his new Eyemo, his cameraman and mentor is brutally murdered. The strange disappearance of a new Brazilian friend from the voyage, along with his offer of help in this unfamiliar setting, adds a chilling dimension to the killing.
At the same time, he falls in love with a beautiful English girl he meets on the voyage. But she is dabbling in a bit of deadly NAZI spy business, and only wants to discover what happened to a secret roll of microfilm his new Brazilian friend was carrying. A local cop seems more interested in that microfilm than his cameraman's murder. When he tries to help her, Ben steps into even more danger that threatens not only his project, but his own life. And the life of the girl.
As he struggles to get his project underway, a brief encounter with a spiritist ceremony unleashes fiends from the unseen world that attempt to make him one of their own. Far from his familiar world, Ben is quickly faced with the reality of his lack of experience, and with sudden doubts of his own ability. To rescue his scuttled project, Ben must not only confront his personal shortcomings and recruit a new cameraman, but he must search for his cameraman's killer as well as his new Brazilian friend. With few resources, Ben struggles to make sense of the murder and of brutal rivalries he discovers ashore.
He must not only learn his new trade in a hurry, but quickly discover whether he has the will to take another life that desperately seeks his own. Of one thing he is sure. His long-dead idol is standing by, looking on, offering encouragement. But that is the trouble. That seems to be all he is doing.
Alone, with few resources, in an unfamiliar city, it would be easy to say his dream is nothing more than a dream. Or, he could discover how far he would be willing to go to make it happen.
