Imagine a world that is one of infinite parallel worlds, that hangs suspended between the dismantling of the Wall and the fall of the Twin Towers, in the shadow of suicide terrorism and global financial collapse. Presiding over this world is the Concern, an all-powerful organisation whose operatives possess extraordinary powers. There is Temudjin Oh, an unkillable assassin; Adrian Cubbish, restlessly greedy City trader; and the Philosopher, a state-sponsored...

In 1972, Famagusta in Cyprus is the most desirable resort in the Mediterranean. Tourism and commerce boom in the city, with Greek and Turkish Cypriots living and working harmoniously side by side. Elsewhere on the island, there has been a decade of unrest and violence between the communities and in 1974, following a Greek military coup, Turkey invades the island to protect the Turkish Cypriot minority. As Famagusta is shelled, its population flees....

Mike Engleby says things that others dare not even think. When the novel opens in the 1970's, he is a university student, having survived a 'traditional' school. A man devoid of scruple or self-pity, Engleby provides a witheringly frank account of English education.

London, July 1976. It hasn't rained for months, and Robert Riordan tells his wife Gretta that he's going round the corner to buy a newspaper. He doesn't come back. The search for Robert brings Gretta's children - two estranged sisters and a brother on the brink of divorce - back home, each with different ideas as to where their father might have gone. None of them suspects that their mother might have an explanation that even now she cannot share....