John Calvin is a talented young composer who has been given a great honor:  he has been chosen by the Altura Foundation to be their resident composer.  The Foundation has a designated island in the Pacific to gather all the top scientists, engineers, designers, architects, etc to create a Utopia!  Recently they have added top artists to add beauty and meaning to the life and society there.  At first this seems like the job of a lifetime and the fulfillment of all John’s dreams.  But the longer he lives there the more he questions how much freedom and privacy does he really have?  What are the motives of the leaders?  As he learns more, he is excited by what he is able to do but also increasingly afraid about where this is all leading.  The city of Altura is being presented as the model for the future of the world, which sounds great; but John is increasingly anxious about the motives of the Foundation.  Are they an altruistic organization determined to make the world a better place, or is this a plot to gain ultimate power and control?  The book comes to an exciting and dramatic conclusion as the United Nations meets to consider the Altura Foundation’s proposal.