An apocalyptic cult member carries out a gas-attack on a rush-hour metro, but what connects him to a jazz-buff in Tokyo? A Mongolian gangster, a redundant English spy in Petersburg with a knack for forging masterpieces, a despondent "zookeeper", a nuclear scientist, a ghostwriter, a ghost, and a late night New York DJ whose hard-boiled scepticism has been his undoing all also have stories to tell. Add to this saxophones and causality, Buddha, cherry blossoms, island cities, a mind unhooked from memory, the Trans Siberian express, hidden narratives of the new world's order, circles and roulette in London, Baggins the Tarantula and a quantum computer born one century ahead of its time. All elements are interconnected and each character must play their part as they are caught up in the inescapable forces of cause and effect.

Reviews

'A remarkable first novel . . . Eastern, ethereal, yet flecked with flashes of commando grit, this multi-faceted novel is full of surprises'

Time Out

'One of the best first novels I've read in a long time . . . I couldn't put it down'

AS Byatt, Mail on Sunday

'A firework display . . . a remarkable novel by a young writer of remarkable talent'

Observer

'Demands to be read and re-read . . . an astonishing debut'

Lawrence Norfolk, Independent

'Fabulously atmospheric and wryly perceptive . . . a huge new talent'

Guardian Books of the Year

'The best first novel I have read in ages . . . it beguiles, informs, shocks and captivates.'

William Boyd, Daily Telegraph Books of the

'The best modern novel I have read for some time'

Rachel Cusk, Express on Sunday