Matt Fowler is a college professor who has seen a member of his immediate family die exactly every five years since he was born. Now, after the death of his brother Richard, he is left alone to discover if the family's five year "curse" is real or just a bizarre set of coincidences. Driven by the possibility that he himself may have only five years left, Matt, a professional academic, explores the nature of consciousness, the physics and perception of time, the source of the sublime and the religious experience, and the limits of science, all in an effort to come to terms with the events of his life. Will he find the answers he seeks or will the family curse get him too?