John Turner, a young man with a checkered past, has been told he has just one year to live. He decides to use his remaining time in search of three very different men he met in the hospital during the war, each of them in trouble of some kind: a pilot whose wife had betrayed him, a young corporal charged with killing a civilian in a brawl, and a black G.I. wrongly accused of the attempted rape of a white English girl.

As Turner discovers where these men have landed on the checkerboard of life, he learns about compassion, tolerance, and second chances, and overcomes his fear of death. Underlying the novel is the Buddhist belief in reincarnation and redemption. Despite his shady past, Turner, through his attempts to help his fellow patients and his acceptance of his death, moves closer to Nirvana.