Michael Marshall Smith's surreal, groundbreaking, and award-winning debut which resonates with wild humour interlaced with dark recollections of an emotional minefield. Now part of the Voyager Classics collection. Stark is the hero the future is waiting for -- God help it. He's smart, alarmingly cool, and has immaculate taste in shirts. He's a troubleshooter in the City, a lawless sprawl of Neighbourhoods which covers the country from coast to coast. Each is totally geared to the desires of those who live in it, from can-do corporate types, through deranged criminals, to people who just don't like loud noises. Stark accepts a job from Zenda Renn, the human face of the Action Centre -- where people who have to be doing something all the time hang out. Someone's missing. Zenda needs him found, and soon. In a world where the past and future, reality and dreams meet and have a fist fight, Stark is the only man who can make a difference. Time's running out and there's no going back. Only Forward.