The novel revolves between three photojournalists, Helen Adams, Sam Darrow, and Tran Bau Linh also referred to as Nguyen Pran Linh who work together covering the conflict of Vietnam. Helen Adams, the main female role in the novel, becomes addicted to the fear and adrenaline of war, going out onto the field and competing to see who can capture the best print. She witnesses death right in front of her own eyes. Opposed to Helen and her mentor Darrow, his assistant Linh's desire is to flee Vietnam as soon as possible to get as far away from the war. Unlike the Americans who are capable to go home to peace, Linh is unable to escape because it is his own country. Will Helen be able to endure her journey in Vietnam? Will she remain to the end and risking everything, knowing that there is a possibility of death?.
Throughout the beginning of the novel, Helen Adams, a neophyte photographer, subsequently travels to Vietnam in 1965 to get a better understanding of her brother's death. She drops out of college to pursue her career as a photojournalist and to follow her father and brother's footsteps, and outdo them if possible. Unless she succeeds, her father would be dismissive. Helen is initially displayed as a naive Californian girl. She "fumbled with her newly acquired cameras" (Soli, pg. 90). Helen does not know the basics of how to reel the film and requires assistance from her mentor. "Darrow was speechless - he showed her basic photographic technique" (Soli, pg. 90). Her only experience is in a high school course, and her sole encounter with war are tales of her father's experiences during the Korean war and the letters she received from her brother. Helen did not plan on staying in Vietnam for long - her bags remained packed. "Home. She longed for the clean quiet of her mother's house" (Soli, pg. 91). She attempted to bargain her way out of Vietnam, ".if she survived this one flight, she was done and would go home" (Soli, pg.