A visionary thriller of future espionage, murder, parallel realities and terrible secrets The Guardian said had "seemingly effortless literary flair." For an intelligence officer like Jim, today's world is a nightmare. The Xian Flu pandemic and ongoing economic crises have fractured the European Union and new nations are springing up everywhere, some literally overnight. Every week or so a friendly power spawns, or a new and unknown national entity which may not be friendly to England's interests; it's hard to keep on top of it all. And things are about to get worse for Jim. A stabbing on a London bus pitches him into a world where his intelligence service is preparing for war with another universe, and a man has come who may hold the key to unlocking the mystery.