Shona Sandison, a Scottish journalist of the old school, gets a tip from a shadowy source. Something big is going down, and its codename is Grendel. When she travels to London to an awards ceremony, having been nominated for her blockbuster story (uncovered in THE HOLLOW TREE) she begins teasing out the threads and soon finds herself entangled in something that is hard to grasp. A sleazy man encountered at the ceremony sends Shona to an even sleazier shop where she gets a device that appears to be an ancient phone, and after getting an introduction to an off-the-grid tech genius, she heads to meet him in the Cotswolds - but not before Mr. Sleazy is murdered and Shona realizes she's next.

Meanwhile, her former colleague Hugh has left the news business and is now a bewildered PR flack in a new government agency being established in Scotland. He's not sure what they do or what his role is supposed to be, but he becomes aware that whatever it is, it's not something most citizens actually want. And an old, reclusive ex-MI5 director mourns his dead son while regretting his involvement in black-op activities.

This is a fast-paced and jittery political thriller written in gorgeous, strange, poetic prose. Miller has a gift for oddball characters who spring to life, and is once again painting a portrait of a society controlled by the wealthy that has gone right off the rails. What Grendel turns out to be would normally be considered over the top paranoia, but these days, nothing in our political economy seems impossible. There are two potential solutions on offer: bring it to light (Shona's approach, though her life is on the line as she puts the pieces together) or to destroy it violently.

It's an absorbing, troubling, beautifully-written, and very angry book. I loved it.