The Uninvited

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‘Fine,’ I say. ‘I’ve been enjoyingnature. And I have a goldfish.’‘Good. Sounds like a start. So. Clearyour head, then finish that report and callme when you’re done. It’s a tough call Iknow. Don’t think I’m unsympathetic. ButI’m counting on you to deliver.’He knows I will. When ProfessorWhybray recommended me to Phipps &Wexman it was Ashok Sharma whospotted my talent for identifying andtracking patterns, ‘like one of those Frenchpigs that root for truffles in the forests ofla Wherever-the-Fuck’, as he put it. It washe who took me on.After we’ve said goodbye I switch off myphone and breathe in deep lungfuls ofdark, saturated air. Sheep are scattered
here and there, white blobs in a murk ofcollapsed bracken and heather. I turn andhead back for the black granite boulderthat marks the turn of the sheep-path.Seagulls wheel overhead.‘Sunny Chen is dead. Sunny Chen isdead. Sunny Chen is dead.’If I say a thing aloud it can sound likesomeone official speaking, and then I canbegin to believe it. I walk faster,visualising the pulping machine, and theheap of woodchips and sawdust in theskip below, stained red from SunnyChen’s blood. Sunny Chen mashed tohamburger. I have to go through the wholeprocess with him. I don’t know why. Notjust once, but again and again, with hisheart and his da Vinci aortas andventricles sliced through by the whirring
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For Clare Blatchford ReesAn inspira
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CONTENTSPrologueChapter 1Chapter 2C
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PROLOGUEMass hysterical outbreaks r
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she’d put it to her father’s fa
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pewter glint of the Atlantic. I’d
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Taiwan working flat out on the sabo
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The TV showed a semi-detached house
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existence. Ever since the High Ener
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stepson aiming his catapult at anot
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attracted you to Hesketh when you f
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the package called Hesketh Lock and
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some of the ‘normal social graces
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of the country, or even abroad, to
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evidence of dark forces: demons, sh
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selling tofu, lychees, starfruit, s
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cross-culture specialist, who has a
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aid triggered further investigation
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several hours, kept awake by coffee
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The next morning I was at the timbe
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though my Chinese was unfortunately
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computer. It all added up, and he a
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Martin Yeh sighed. ‘If I had been
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police asked me the same thing. And
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The loading of the trunks and the s
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His face mask hid his features. I
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drying up from the wood dust.‘The
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He shook his head. ‘It’s bad. L
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the concrete prairie. I like to be
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and paint-colour charts (here I use
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do what they want.’ As he spoke,
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He took a deep breath. ‘The spiri
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they are all dead. But they are ali
Page 67 and 68: Chen seemed absorbed in his ownthou
Page 69 and 70: the city. Up here, we were right on
Page 71 and 72: shaking the black-stemmed bamboos a
Page 73 and 74: with gold. Hell notes. Each leaf of
Page 75 and 76: leg. I would have bent it to form a
Page 77 and 78: The laugh came again. ‘Sure, I wi
Page 79 and 80: settled it on the marble slab betwe
Page 81 and 82: ‘I made it,’ he said. ‘That
Page 83 and 84: ‘Do you fear that there will be a
Page 85 and 86: sandalwood. I recognised it instant
Page 87 and 88: it from me. I need to know why.’
Page 89 and 90: should not ask.’‘Later she regr
Page 91 and 92: too.’ I meant it.‘We will say g
Page 93 and 94: As the taxi drove off, I looked bac
Page 95 and 96: oof had lost a few tiles, and a dea
Page 97 and 98: starting these miniature contained
Page 99 and 100: the surface in tiny bubbles likecha
Page 101 and 102: ‘I know your mum has already talk
Page 103 and 104: to do. So I cleaned it up. A few mi
Page 105 and 106: toothpaste.Sometimes we pretended w
Page 107 and 108: Taiwan whistle-blower?’Sunny Chen
Page 109 and 110: said? Sunny Chen. Your factory-mana
Page 111 and 112: don’t feel anything.But I do feel
Page 113 and 114: feelings: they are a component of t
Page 115 and 116: ‘Ashok. Just tell me.’‘Er, Je
Page 117: She is generally considered to beex
Page 121 and 122: publicity generated by a disgruntle
Page 123 and 124: The French term un acte manquédesc
Page 125 and 126: CHAPTER 3Sometime at the end of the
Page 127 and 128: Taiwan report. Chen’s suicide mea
Page 129 and 130: visible behind his left ear. I don
Page 131 and 132: the matter in hand, so I say, ‘I
Page 133 and 134: applied it. Last Christmas he sent
Page 135 and 136: doodling a bunch of amoeba fucking,
Page 137 and 138: over.’I was doing a tricky blintz
Page 139 and 140: stuck through their combs where the
Page 141 and 142: Station in Copenhagen, where I chan
Page 143 and 144: The morning after my arrival in Sto
Page 145 and 146: confused.’‘Is there no explanat
Page 147 and 148: not Japanese and nor is Lars Axel,
Page 149 and 150: If I am on to something, my blood f
Page 151 and 152: invent, and get messy. He is a fan
Page 153 and 154: choose it a name.’ He is very kee
Page 155 and 156: woodlouses.’ His voice has change
Page 157 and 158: field of study and secondly because
Page 159 and 160: dog. But she would like one. I ask
Page 161 and 162: established a definitive momentum m
Page 163 and 164: ‘No, but I’d like to,’ I tell
Page 165 and 166: interrupted sex with the demographe
Page 167 and 168: her smile, and led to her questioni
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applying for. She told me she wante
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By now I have studied Sverige Banke
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CHAPTER 4When Ashok skypes me in th
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‘Swiss-German. Attending a UNconf
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a state of enlightenment. Was thiss
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Svensson is probably in her mid-fif
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violent. Never. He’s become anoth
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happened at the bank.’‘So sit d
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‘The fucking . . . creature. It
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doctor buzzes an alarm. ‘You fuck
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follow. Outside, others are chasing
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on his mobile phone. Within seconds
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Svensson and what followed. When I
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combination with other things, have
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get it over with.’ They look at e
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else the image freezes. So I say,
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Then I text Ashok asking for thedim
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Men attacking institutions that the
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fingers across the bicep, and a thu
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gum in his mouth. Numerous studies
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neurophysiology of self-deception.
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fears which dominated the lives of
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they had done.The Venn diagram in m
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significance, on some level. ‘Som
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would be catastrophic for farming -
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‘Well, enjoy the rest of your lif
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‘And what kind of fucked-up weird
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He’ll shout, ‘Jesus Christ, Hes
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she once claimed to find endearing.
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the car and we put the dead body in
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grow and then we eat the plants,’
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is Afghan, so I try out a few words
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day here, so at 8am local time I co
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only travel in one direction. But n
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shown that there are dimensions tha
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At 10.30 I am heading upwards in a
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the rest are erecting and dismantli
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ig muscled arm to show me ‘the wo
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lady, Halla. Very traditional. Can
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they feature as recent additions to
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overloaded now. I rock harder and h
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child he stops licking his arm, he
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Later, when I am being interrogated
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him. I didn’t push him.’ I say
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matter as you’ll be dead. But som
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e shouting.I don’t usually shout.
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construction elevator. Its slow sha
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against my faith. And it’s not in
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and he crumbled something into it.
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with three daughters. One said she
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de Vries then Mazoor could solve th
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it seemed. And I heard her too. She
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observes them, then looks up at me.
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To the mother-root, when they haveb
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epresentations are highly accurate.
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speculations it has led to.‘I bel
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honeybee. Serviced by a million dro
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one. Quite rare, though it’s on t
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This day has not been a good one so
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comes to escort me back to my hotel
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CHAPTER 6There is an explanation fo
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At the time though, there was nocon
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version. Lot and his wife and daugh
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many tribes of Africa. He’d have
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Is she beautiful? Most of my maleco
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‘Whatever it is, now is not the t
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speculation, I have to tell you. As
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glass as I speak.‘With Chen it’
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uprising. And there are other thing
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together?’I grab a napkin and dra
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Care Units for them. Drafted an arm
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A classic distancing technique. You
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‘A small figure,’ I say. ‘Chi
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esults I’m waiting on. It may mea
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entirely new way.’ In addition to
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Victor?’ That familiar cracked an
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Professor Whybray and Naomi Benjami
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‘Superstition was part of Hesketh
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Whybray.‘The girl,’ I say. ‘I
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goodbye and Stephanie presses End C
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their sudden, intense camaraderie a
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I’m overloaded. I stand and pick
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intense pummelling of my muscles.I
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that happen. Kaitlin’s wrong to s
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strain to hear it. ‘Don’t think
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seems slightly drunk. Did she have
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No. I am not OK.I clear my throat.
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it. The hand-print’s too small to
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hold of this and copied it?’ asks
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CHAPTER 8Kaitlin’s house, built i
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carry him through the narrow entran
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when I moved in has disappeared fro
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secretly a pirate ship, he insists.
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‘I say, ond som jooz. Ploz.’A m
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half-chewed crisps, and drops the l
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tissue, but he wriggles out of her
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‘What do you mean, Freddy?’ ask
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Three ways to die. ‘Except there
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He shrugs. ‘You saw the girl with
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Freddy K?’He wipes his nose on hi
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ago. But she is still beautiful and
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another?’‘No,’ says Kaitlin.
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Freddy and Hesketh both want to see
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ottle of Australian Shiraz from the
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huge. It’ll expand and peak. In w
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has flown up around her neck, distu
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I go to the window I see only one p
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make you spaghetti. Out in the kitc
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Stephanie says, ‘My sister says i
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him into another mood. He pulls awa
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desert. Is that what he wants? Is h
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Care Unit. In the meantime there’
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on all children under twelve in the
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At five, Stephanie calls from the h
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plasticine and cracked clay and a f
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‘Yep?’‘It was an accident. No
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Freddy is a collector, and tins are
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world? Somewhere out there, Freddy
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come in and hold the fort? Ashok’
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youngest two killed him.’So Amit
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pouring and stirring are soothing -
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air can be bad for you!’‘No. Ai
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engaged. The net connection hasdisa
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lind!’ he calls after me as I lea
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Professor Whybray - but the line’
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nuts. I don’t know where he got h
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‘Hesketh.’ That reedy, throaty
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swayed by the culture.’‘You onc
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‘Secondary hysteria?’ Is that w
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‘Well the human extinction lobby
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anomalies. ‘Any eye infections am
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living in the cottage on the island
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‘What do you mean, bones?’I rec
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options to choose from on the BBC
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anomalies, this information is unli
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calls again. She sounds exhausted,
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Freddy down,’ I say. ‘You need
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changes often occur in patients who
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information it contains.I’d antic
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of denial, anger, bargaining, depre
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did. In a manner of speaking.’ I
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crap they wanted. There’s no way
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intrigued me.If Freddy and I were g
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the vast orange ziggurat of Sainsbu
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taller, but not much older. Ten per
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signal again. The sign of the eye.
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camera angled at us from the corner
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left with a glass door, through whi
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you can join the others. OK?’‘Y
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telling if it’s peaked. And there
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where he waves at the three supervi
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‘Glossolalia?’‘Except that I
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eaching in his pocket. ‘Phone cal
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I ask, ‘Do you have children?’S
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ecame intimate, we would have to ha
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emarkable,’ says Professor Whybra
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I pull up a seat and glance through
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eyes.’I jump up. ‘That fits!’
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world with no adults, no toilets, n
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answer. ‘He’s still Freddy. His
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from life itself. If I am ‘waterp
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CHAPTER 11The practical side of loo
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on his head. ‘Freddy K. Mum’s i
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next to the basin. ‘We were talki
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eyes and it is as if the clock has
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means?’I watch him in the rear-vi
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for a place to settle. Her hair is
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Stephanie together, the images I co
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Stephanie. ‘Thank you, Hesketh.
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she calls after me: ‘I heard toda
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CHAPTER 12‘It was a disgrace,’
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‘believed to be the work of anarc
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a distaste for it. Contempt, even.
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call it the White Death.’ The pro
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e born and then you made us live li
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hand on my shoulder. ‘Good work,
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the unexpected. And then adapt. It
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few, Hesketh. Hold on to that.’We
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‘Hey!’ calls a male voice. I gl
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lessing.’As we approach, a couple
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two worlds can occupy the same spac
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Vries jumped. I say urgently, ‘Pr
Page 533 and 534:
gently tries to prise her off. But
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donning face masks. I call out a br
Page 537 and 538:
‘The reason for that is that supe
Page 539 and 540:
I slide some origami paper from the
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global economy, bang goes capitalis
Page 543 and 544:
its knees. You heard about the arre
Page 545 and 546:
heading back to the Stone Age. At l
Page 547 and 548:
Ashok waves him into a seat and ask
Page 549 and 550:
what Svensson’s autopsy showed. I
Page 551 and 552:
They’re children for ever, like P
Page 553 and 554:
‘Hesketh,’ she says evenly, ‘
Page 555 and 556:
I give the short version.‘So I an
Page 557 and 558:
out what impact this has on our oth
Page 559 and 560:
‘Stop,’ I say. ‘This is now.
Page 561 and 562:
and started writing very fast. So I
Page 563 and 564:
Professor Whybray drops his noteboo
Page 565 and 566:
CHAPTER 14Kaitlin Kalifakidis is de
Page 567 and 568:
Kawasaki rose in an envelope marked
Page 569 and 570:
forced into a wide detour: a burst
Page 571 and 572:
since she organised this event, she
Page 573 and 574:
While the others head for the group
Page 575 and 576:
Mazoor. Mrs Helena Whybray’s. She
Page 577 and 578:
My belief is that when you die, tha
Page 579 and 580:
Freddy starts clicking his tongue.G
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‘No,’ he whispers. Then he stan
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nodding at the door. ‘Go now.’A
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has no power in it. My groin is thu
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‘Where are you?’ I keep my voic
Page 589 and 590:
wearing a necklace like the one Fre
Page 591 and 592:
with no sign of human life. I can i
Page 593 and 594:
shouts, violent elbowing, shoving a
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comprising ten or so kids. Then the
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Then the world shrinks to a pinpric
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which forms a little tent. I don’
Page 601 and 602:
the pillows behind my head.My mouth
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unexplained anomaly of the kidneys.
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CHAPTER 15The next morning I wake i
Page 607 and 608:
pointing upward. ‘That’s lasagn
Page 609 and 610:
another soldier on guard. I show hi
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een cordoned off. Some soldiers are
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notebook and then find Naomi.‘How
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hand-prints in human blood.Freddy i
Page 617 and 618:
The door has a small reinforcedwind
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‘Because there’s one in here.
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She puts a hand on my shoulder.‘Y
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Freddy in the car again. They haves
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of human history has begun.
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after a storm. We’d walk beyond t
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Svensson. Here’s where I’ll exp
Page 631 and 632:
attention - or seemed to, until I s
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pressed him further. Why I kept dig
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the island, he told me. All native
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to me daily, sometimes hourly. And
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There is a lot more in this vein. M
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We are a species in crisis: a speci
Page 643 and 644:
the one I made for Sunny Chen. Irem
Page 645 and 646:
what happens next, Freddy?’ He do
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eality.Once upon a time the Earth w
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‘Stop. It means we want you to st
Page 651 and 652:
think. They’ve come back to stop
Page 653 and 654:
swivelling in my chair and watching
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new course is set. You know that,He
Page 657 and 658:
metaphysics of being. I am not a gr
Page 659 and 660:
you open them out, their intended s
Page 661 and 662:
encouragement.My thanks also go to
Page 663 and 664:
for the Orange Prize for Fiction an
Page 665 and 666:
Also Available by Liz JensenThe Rap
Page 667 and 668:
The Ninth Life of LouisDraxNine-yea
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My Dirty Little Book ofStolen TimeI
Page 671 and 672:
War Crimes for theHomeLonglisted fo
Page 673 and 674:
Click for more information
Page 675 and 676:
a world of compulsive consumption,
Page 677 and 678:
Since the year all British women be
Page 679 and 680:
sister for backup, Hazel Sugden, fo
Page 681:
SydneyA CIP catalogue record for th
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The Uninvited

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