An unusual and fascinating take on a crime novel from the established and endlessly inventive Louise Welsh . . . With a strong central character and vivid depictions of the disorder that accompanies social breakdown, it's a gripping book that prepares the way nicely for the next volume * Guardian * Don't start reading this if you have a long to-do list, it's a hypnotically readable thriller and you won't get much don't until you've finished it . . . What's gripping about this is the way the two stories, the crime thriller and the gathering apocalypse combine to create something tenser and scarier than either alone. The way that society gradually disintegrates is brilliantly done; it makes you feel just how fragile civilisation is * Independent on Sunday * A tense, claustrophobic medical whodunit with an apocalyptic tone that cranks the stakes ever higher * Herald *