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.