Dr. Kenzo Tenma is a brilliant young neurosurgeon in Düsseldorf whose life is destroyed when he chooses to save a dying boy, Johan Liebert, instead of the city's mayor, adhering to his belief that all lives are equal. Nine years later, Tenma discovers that the boy he saved has grown into a charismatic, manipulative sociopath responsible for a string of cold-blooded murders. Framed for crimes he didn't commit, Tenma leaves his old life behind to hunt down the 'monster' he resurrected, uncovering a dark conspiracy involving secret police experiments and the legacy of the Cold War.

Set primarily in post-reunification Germany and the Czech Republic during the mid-1990s. The story captures the eerie, uncertain atmosphere of post-Cold War Europe, moving from sterile modern hospitals to gloomy, rain-slicked streets, rural villages hiding dark secrets, and the ruins of the former East German regime.