Prophet

"A queer X-Files-style thriller" - The Guardian

Daring, surprising and superbly plotted, this is a fresh, thrilling page-turner from a dynamic new duo in genre fiction.

YOUR HAPPIEST MEMORY IS THEIR DEADLIEST WEAPON.

This is Prophet. It knows when you were happiest. It gives life to your fondest memories and uses them to destroy you. But who has created it? And what do they want?

An all-American diner appears overnight in a remote British field. It's brightly lit, warm and inviting but it has no power, no water, no connection to the real world. It's like a memory made flesh - a nostalgic flight of fancy. More and more objects materialise: toys, fairground rides, pets and other treasured mementos of the past.

And the deaths quickly follow.
Something is bringing these memories to life, then stifling innocent people with their own joy. This is a weapon like no other. But nobody knows who created it, or why.

Sunil Rao seems a surprising choice of investigator. Chaotic and unpredictable, the former agent is the antithesis of his partner Colonel Adam Rubenstein, the model of a military man. But Sunil has the unique ability to distinguish truth from lies: in objects, words and people, in the past and in real time. And Adam is the only one who truly knows him, after a troubled past together. Now, as they battle this strange new reality, they are drawn closer than ever to defend what they both hold most dear.

For Prophet can weaponise the past. But only love will protect the future.

Authors: Helen Macdonald and Sin Blache

Trade paperback  Published 22 August 2023  480 pages

"I had heard Prophet (accurately) described as a genre mash-up, blending the best of techno-noir, dystopian sci-fi, and espionage procedural (with a dash of queer romance). And while it is all those things, at its heart Helen Macdonald and Sin Blaché's tightly wound (yet somehow tender?) mystery-sci-fi-thriller is a philosophical novel... What is life without mystery? And at what point does nostalgia grow so strong it derails our lives?" -- Literary Hub

"The authors' most irresistible achievement... is their odd-couple pairing of the Dionysian Rao with the fastidious Rubenstein, who bicker and banter contentiously despite their fondness for each other. The well-matched authors make good on their audacious premise." -- Publishers Weekly, starred review

"A fast-paced techno-thriller, with a high body count, zippy dialogue and an intriguing central mystery... The novel is immense fun, a work of exceptional storytelling skill and stylistic panache.... The writing is high-spec, lively, vivid. The dialogue is sharp, often funny....Without letting the pace slacken, Macdonald and Blaché manage to fold in powerful reflections on loss and trauma...H Is for Highly Recommended." -- Guardian (UK)