The book depicts the life of a young boy who lives in obscure village of Sahnand in late 1800.  The village was known for its dark side as home of con artists. The population of village consisted mainly of youth, elderly and woman. Most of able man spent their lives abroad. Young hero tries to avoid becoming con artist by becoming metalsmith. His short carrier would be cut short when one day he was accused of forging a key that was used in robbery. He becomes fugitive and joins master con artist unknowingly becoming his apprentice. The con artists from the village were smart, brave, daring people who had deep knowledge of culture, religion and languages of whole continent. One day they would pretend being a Muslim monk and next day Jewelry traders. They were so fluent that could easily act as monks and recite religious texts from multiple religions and in a tong spoken locally. Frequently they would collect donations in such artistic way that victims ware glad to "help" them and might end up living their entire lives without knowing they ware conned. They were incredibly strong and resilient. Most of their cons were high profile and they would readily get financing from Rich individuals and banks. They were very honest paying their debts and would never con their friends. They had their cod of honor and would follow it fanatically. They ware territorial and deadly individuals usually working in pairs. This was the phenomena local to this region and while there ware legends in many cultures about "Khachagock" this book is the only source describing their day to day lives. In one incident the master con artist Perros helps starving village in Siberia and ends up spending entire loot they gathered several months.

Վեպում առաջադրում է անհատի քաղաքացիական պարտքի գաղափարը: Ցույց տալով չարության, մարդատյացության, ընչաքաղցության բնազդական կրքերի արթնացումը մարդու էության մեջ, գրողն իր հերոսներին հանգեցնում է այն գիտակցության, որ մարդիկ բարի կամ չար չեն ծնվում, այթ այդպիսին են դառնում հասարակական մթնոլորտի ազդեցությամբ: Հետևաբար, մարդկային գործունեությանն օգտակար ուղղություն տալու համար անհրաժեշտ է բարեփոխել հասարակությունը: Արթնացնելով իր հերոսների քաղաքացիական գիտակցությունը՝ Րաֆֆին նրանց հայացքն ուղղում է դեպի ազգային-ազատագրական պայքարի ասպարեզը: