Memory defines us--but what if you lost all memory of who you are? Or where you came from? A man washes onto a British beach with no memory of who he is or how he got there. Are there loved ones who could be looking for him? Is he a criminal, or an illegal immigrant? The media circus that ensues dubs him "Matthew," a patient whose story is a blank slate--no past, no preconceptions, no life before the mysterious incident that washed him up on that beach. Despite the tragedy of Matthew's condition, there are others who see him in a different light. He is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, the perfect study of retrograde amnesia. When Dr. Emma Lewis gets a call from a respected colleague asking if she wants to take on the case of a lifetime, she can't refuse. But her ambition comes at a cost. All too soon she'll realize that the man she's been studying has been harboring dangerous secrets, and that he may remember far more than he lets on. . . . Who is Matthew? The answer might surprise you, if it doesn't kill you.