The Uninvited

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Chapter 6Chapter 7Chapter 8Chapter 9Chapter 10Chapter 11Chapter 12Chapter 13Chapter 14Chapter 15Chapter 16AcknowledgementsA Note on the AuthorBy the Same AuthorAlso Available by Liz Jensen
PROLOGUEMass hysterical outbreaks rarely haveidentifiable inceptions, but the date Irecall most vividly is Sunday 16thSeptember, when a young child inbutterfly pyjamas slaughtered hergrandmother with a nail-gun to the neck.<strong>The</strong> attack took place in a family living-
Page 3 and 4: For Clare Blatchford ReesAn inspira
Page 5: CONTENTSPrologueChapter 1Chapter 2C
Page 9 and 10: she’d put it to her father’s fa
Page 11 and 12: pewter glint of the Atlantic. I’d
Page 13 and 14: Taiwan working flat out on the sabo
Page 15 and 16: The TV showed a semi-detached house
Page 17 and 18: existence. Ever since the High Ener
Page 19 and 20: stepson aiming his catapult at anot
Page 21 and 22: attracted you to Hesketh when you f
Page 23 and 24: the package called Hesketh Lock and
Page 25 and 26: some of the ‘normal social graces
Page 27 and 28: of the country, or even abroad, to
Page 29 and 30: evidence of dark forces: demons, sh
Page 31 and 32: selling tofu, lychees, starfruit, s
Page 33 and 34: cross-culture specialist, who has a
Page 35 and 36: aid triggered further investigation
Page 37 and 38: several hours, kept awake by coffee
Page 39 and 40: The next morning I was at the timbe
Page 41 and 42: though my Chinese was unfortunately
Page 43 and 44: computer. It all added up, and he a
Page 45 and 46: Martin Yeh sighed. ‘If I had been
Page 47 and 48: police asked me the same thing. And
Page 49 and 50: The loading of the trunks and the s
Page 51 and 52: His face mask hid his features. I
Page 53 and 54: drying up from the wood dust.‘The
Page 55 and 56: He shook his head. ‘It’s bad. L
Page 57 and 58:
the concrete prairie. I like to be
Page 59 and 60:
and paint-colour charts (here I use
Page 61 and 62:
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
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Chen seemed absorbed in his ownthou
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the city. Up here, we were right on
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shaking the black-stemmed bamboos a
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with gold. Hell notes. Each leaf of
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leg. I would have bent it to form a
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The laugh came again. ‘Sure, I wi
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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
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sandalwood. I recognised it instant
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it from me. I need to know why.’
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should not ask.’‘Later she regr
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too.’ I meant it.‘We will say g
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As the taxi drove off, I looked bac
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oof had lost a few tiles, and a dea
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starting these miniature contained
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the surface in tiny bubbles likecha
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‘I know your mum has already talk
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to do. So I cleaned it up. A few mi
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toothpaste.Sometimes we pretended w
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Taiwan whistle-blower?’Sunny Chen
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said? Sunny Chen. Your factory-mana
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don’t feel anything.But I do feel
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feelings: they are a component of t
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‘Ashok. Just tell me.’‘Er, Je
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She is generally considered to beex
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here and there, white blobs in a mu
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publicity generated by a disgruntle
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The French term un acte manquédesc
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CHAPTER 3Sometime at the end of the
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Taiwan report. Chen’s suicide mea
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visible behind his left ear. I don
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the matter in hand, so I say, ‘I
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applied it. Last Christmas he sent
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doodling a bunch of amoeba fucking,
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over.’I was doing a tricky blintz
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stuck through their combs where the
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Station in Copenhagen, where I chan
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The morning after my arrival in Sto
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confused.’‘Is there no explanat
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not Japanese and nor is Lars Axel,
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If I am on to something, my blood f
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invent, and get messy. He is a fan
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choose it a name.’ He is very kee
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woodlouses.’ His voice has change
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field of study and secondly because
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dog. But she would like one. I ask
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established a definitive momentum m
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‘No, but I’d like to,’ I tell
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interrupted sex with the demographe
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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
Page 301 and 302:
speculation, I have to tell you. As
Page 303 and 304:
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
Page 313 and 314:
‘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
Page 327 and 328:
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
Page 353 and 354:
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
Page 359 and 360:
tissue, but he wriggles out of her
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‘What do you mean, Freddy?’ ask
Page 363 and 364:
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
Page 369 and 370:
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
Page 405 and 406:
come in and hold the fort? Ashok’
Page 407 and 408:
youngest two killed him.’So Amit
Page 409 and 410:
pouring and stirring are soothing -
Page 411 and 412:
air can be bad for you!’‘No. Ai
Page 413 and 414:
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’
Page 419 and 420:
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
Page 465 and 466:
you can join the others. OK?’‘Y
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telling if it’s peaked. And there
Page 469 and 470:
where he waves at the three supervi
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‘Glossolalia?’‘Except that I
Page 473 and 474:
eaching in his pocket. ‘Phone cal
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I ask, ‘Do you have children?’S
Page 477 and 478:
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
Page 483 and 484:
eyes.’I jump up. ‘That fits!’
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world with no adults, no toilets, n
Page 487 and 488:
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
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gently tries to prise her off. But
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donning face masks. I call out a br
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‘The reason for that is that supe
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I slide some origami paper from the
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global economy, bang goes capitalis
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its knees. You heard about the arre
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heading back to the Stone Age. At l
Page 547 and 548:
Ashok waves him into a seat and ask
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what Svensson’s autopsy showed. I
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They’re children for ever, like P
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‘Hesketh,’ she says evenly, ‘
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I give the short version.‘So I an
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out what impact this has on our oth
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‘Stop,’ I say. ‘This is now.
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and started writing very fast. So I
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Professor Whybray drops his noteboo
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CHAPTER 14Kaitlin Kalifakidis is de
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Kawasaki rose in an envelope marked
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forced into a wide detour: a burst
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since she organised this event, she
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While the others head for the group
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Mazoor. Mrs Helena Whybray’s. She
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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
Page 583 and 584:
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
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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
Page 597 and 598:
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
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pointing upward. ‘That’s lasagn
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another soldier on guard. I show hi
Page 611 and 612:
een cordoned off. Some soldiers are
Page 613 and 614:
notebook and then find Naomi.‘How
Page 615 and 616:
hand-prints in human blood.Freddy i
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The door has a small reinforcedwind
Page 619 and 620:
‘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
Page 629 and 630:
Svensson. Here’s where I’ll exp
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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
Page 637 and 638:
to me daily, sometimes hourly. And
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There is a lot more in this vein. M
Page 641 and 642:
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
Page 647 and 648:
eality.Once upon a time the Earth w
Page 649 and 650:
‘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
Page 655 and 656:
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:
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Page 679 and 680:
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Page 681:
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The Uninvited

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