Sandy is a celebrated novelist who is still trying to match his successful and much loved first novel; A Patch of Fog. Things for Sandy are pretty good though, he has used the book's success to move into a cosy career as a university lecturer, arts critic and TV personality and is moving forward in his relationship with a famous TV talkshow host. This all changes however when he runs into Robert, a security guard, who catches Sandy indulging in his self destructive passion for shoplifting. Robert agrees to cover for Sandy but gradually uses this power to move deeper into his life with dangerous consequences.