London 10/5, 16/5

the central narrative concerns official drug experimentation within the army, which goes badly wrong. soldiers are fed a drug - zentox 24 – in order to make them cope better with the increased security demands on them. the drug affects soldiers’ perception of danger and has horrific unintended results. a series of ritualistic murders takes place in london. the murders are committed by soldiers whose drug induced paranoia has got the better of them. the lead character, tom hickey, stumbles over what is going on and soon links the killings to soldiers. as tom digs deeper, it quickly becomes clear that the whole of london is at risk. the drug science in the book is researched and authentic.
tom is a tabloid journalist and lives in south london. tom has issues - he suffers from covert ocd. his nice harmless “madness” eventually collides with the drug induced madness engineered by the army – he is forced to take some of the army drug - zentox 24. Can the highly structured and complex nature of his own ocd outfox it?
along the way, tom finds time to have an affair and become a father.

most of the book is in the first person, with tom liberally mouthing off about london, politics, afghanistan, religion...
the central narrative about drugs and the army drives the book on, but the book also seeks to shine a spotlight on the london migrant experience and how migrants interact with the police and the wider establishment.
each chapter of the book concludes with a spoof middle england tabloid news story. this is to provide contrast between tom’s life and this other world.
along the way, tom develops an important relationship with a civilian female doctor, who is working with the army. it is largely through this relationship that ocd/“madness” is explored.
the book also has many references to the internet, films and popular music. in fact, the first chapter ends with a take on a famous quote from casablanca, however, a number of the references are not so obvious. the author enjoys the idea that the reader will actively seek them out once they realise that the book is littered with them. each chapter of the book is self-contained and is consciously cinematic.