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Since such quirky and highly entertaining books as Quite Ugly One Morning in 1996, Brookmyre has been a name to watch. For a time, his publishers bracketed him under the generic heading of Tartan Noir, and certainly his books deliver the violent gritty diversions that such a label suggests, but Brookmyre is too individual a writer to fit comfortably into any genre - as this new book proves: a heady cocktail of espionage, black humour and high-tech thrills.

Jane Fleming is in her mid-40s, and has watched her youthful hopes fade. But she is about to radically change her everyday life as wife and mother. Female computer specialist Lex Richardson is working for the sociopathic Bett, and wondering what the future holds for her, when so many people appear to want her boss dead. He decides to commission a specialist to sort out his problems, and all three protagonists are soon to be plunged into dangerous situations. There is not the slightest hint that Brookmyre's prodigal invention is slowing down. Certainly the book fits into the crime and thriller genre, but (as ever) Brookmyre is always keen to stretch the possibilities of the genre.