The Uninvited

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how the cityscape seethed with it. Taipeiis home to four million and counting. Iwondered: why has Sunny Chen chosen totake me to a place where the vivid livingand the unforgotten dead converge? Farbelow, black birds whirled above theskyscrapers like coarse flakes of ash.After a few moments we turned andwandered among the family shrines: low,squat constructions with wide thresholds.Some lay crumbling and neglected, whileothers were lavishly tended ancestralshowcases.? <strong>The</strong> higher surrounding wallsfeatured alcoves containing urns. Straycats sunned themselves on the crackedslabs, or nudged at the remains of foodofferings. After the air-conditioned taxithe air was sweltering. A hot breeze camefrom the west like the blast of a hairdryer,
shaking the black-stemmed bamboos andrustling half-burned paper modelsattached to shrines. Small mounted blackand-whitephotographs of the dead glintedin the sun, dotted with rainwater. Youcould see the legacy of Qing Ming, theApril tomb-sweeping festival in the formof soggy, charred incense sticks, plasticand silk flowers and the remains of burntofferings. Streams of red ants transportedancient food crumbs amid faded and raindamagedcardboard or paper replicas ofcoveted objects: miniature houses, yachts,cars and mobile phones, all fitting, Isupposed, into the cultural category knownas popular kitsch. <strong>The</strong> artistic standardwas not high.‘Is this where your ancestors are?’ Iasked.
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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
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,
Page 63 and 64: He took a deep breath. ‘The spiri
Page 65 and 66: they are all dead. But they are ali
Page 67 and 68: Chen seemed absorbed in his ownthou
Page 69: the city. Up here, we were right on
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 and 118: She is generally considered to beex
Page 119 and 120: 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
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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
Page 339 and 340:
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
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
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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
Page 387 and 388:
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’
Page 393 and 394:
on all children under twelve in the
Page 395 and 396:
At five, Stephanie calls from the h
Page 397 and 398:
plasticine and cracked clay and a f
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‘Yep?’‘It was an accident. No
Page 401 and 402:
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
Page 427 and 428:
‘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
Page 473 and 474:
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
Page 479 and 480:
emarkable,’ says Professor Whybra
Page 481 and 482:
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
Page 489 and 490:
from life itself. If I am ‘waterp
Page 491 and 492:
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
Page 505 and 506:
Stephanie. ‘Thank you, Hesketh.
Page 507 and 508:
she calls after me: ‘I heard toda
Page 509 and 510:
CHAPTER 12‘It was a disgrace,’
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‘believed to be the work of anarc
Page 513 and 514:
a distaste for it. Contempt, even.
Page 515 and 516:
call it the White Death.’ The pro
Page 517 and 518:
e born and then you made us live li
Page 519 and 520:
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
Page 527 and 528:
lessing.’As we approach, a couple
Page 529 and 530:
two worlds can occupy the same spac
Page 531 and 532:
Vries jumped. I say urgently, ‘Pr
Page 533 and 534:
gently tries to prise her off. But
Page 535 and 536:
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
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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
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
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‘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
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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
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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
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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
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wearing a necklace like the one Fre
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with no sign of human life. I can i
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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’
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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
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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
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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
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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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