Fighting cultists, enemy spies and tentacled horrors from other dimensions is all in a day's work for Bob Howard. Once he fixed computers for the Laundry, the branch of the Secret Service dealing with otherworldly threats. Now he's on the front line. When a televangelist connected to the Prime Minister seems able to work miracles, the Laundry investigates. Technically the agency can't spy on 10 Downing Street, so they hire 'freelancers' - with Bob in charge. Which is fine, save for the fact that freelancers don't officially exist: British occultists either join the Laundry or conveniently disappear. Anyone clever enough to remain independent will be troublesome indeed - and it's up to Bob to keep them in line. He just hopes the corporate 'people management' course he was sent on in Milton Keynes is going to be enough . . . Praise for the Laundry novels: 'Beautifully handled, believable and well envisioned - a highly enjoyable bit of spy-fi' SFX 'This dark, funny blend of SF and horror reads like James Bond written in the style of H.P. Lovecraft' Waterstones Books QuarterlyBiographie de l'auteurCharles Stross is a full-time science fiction writer and resident of Edinburgh, Scotland. The author of seven Hugo-nominated novels and winner of three Hugo awards for best novella, two of which are part of the Laundry Files series, Stross's works have been translated into over twelve languages. As the owner of degrees in pharmacy and computer science, he graduated as the world's only academically qualified cyberpunk writer just as cyberpunk died. Today he describes his job as telling lies for money and tormenting his imaginary friends. Follow his blog at http://www.accelerando.org/ and his Twitter feed at @cstross.