From the acclaimed author ofThe Gone-Away World- an adventure story, a war story, and a love story, all wound into one brilliant narrative that runs like clockwork.

Shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Awardfor Science Fiction Literature.

Joe Spork, son of the infamous criminal Mathew Tommy Gun Spork just wants a quiet life, repairing clockwork in a wet, unknown bit of London.

Edie Banister, former superspy, lives quietly and wishes she didnt. Shes nearly ninety and the things she fought to save dont seem to exist anymore. She's beginning to wonder if they ever did.

When Joe is asked to fix one particularly unusual device, his life is suddenly upended. The client? Unknown. The device? A 1950s doomsday machine. Having triggered it, Joe now faces the wrath of both the government and a diabolical South Asian dictator, Edies old arch-nemesis. Joes once-quiet world is now populated with mad monks, psychopathic serial killers, scientific geniuses and threats to the future of conscious life in the universe. The only way he can survive, is to muster the courage to fight, help Edie complete a mission she gave up years ago, and pick up his fathers old gun...

Nick Harkaway is the author ofThe Gone-Away WorldandAngelmaker, and of an even better and more exciting novel whose name will probably end up beingTigerman, or possiblyMan, Island, Boy. Contrary to what you may have heard, the title really is the hard part. When he's not writing, he spends his time being the husband of a brilliant lawyer and the dad of two small children who are secretly bent on world domination. He likes Italian red wine and lives in a bit of London where the taxis still have a horse at the pointy end.