Burnt out and afraid to feel, Roger is the stone cowboy, an American expatriate reluctantly in Bolivia and trying to get out any way he can. Possible plans for escape include duping a fellow gringo named Agnes who is searching for her brother. She needs Roger's worldly know-how, he needs her money. Roger signs on as her unlikely guide through a horrifying Third World gauntlet as they pursue the magician brother, who dabbles in Russian roulette for amusement white looking for a mystical source of real magic no longer available in the First World. The brother also seems to have taken up residence with an international hood who shares his interest in how things disappear. Meanwhile, Agnes and Roger find that their wounded spirits become agents of redemption for each other.