Twenty-one-year-old Maud hides her beauty and her ideals behind ugly glasses. She joins an NGO and finds herself driving a fifteen-ton truck on the roads of war-torn Bosnia. The four men who accompany her in this convoy are very different from the usual image of humanitarian volunteers. In this machismo-filled daily life, Maud will nevertheless manage to place herself at the center of the game. One by one, her companions will reveal to her the secret wounds of their existence. And the true nature of their cargo. Through characters of exceptional strength, Jean-Christophe Rufin offers us a powerful psychological thriller. And Maud's adventure illuminates one of the most fundamental dilemmas of our time. At a time when violence is creeping into the heart of Europe, is there still room for the benevolent neutrality of humanitarian action? Faced with suffering, isn't it time, now, to take up arms?