Millennium People

A mysterious figure sparks a rebellion among London's middle classes in the extraordinary new novel from the author of Cocaine Nights and Super-Cannes. A bomb at Heathrow appears to psychologist David Markham to be just one more random act of meaningless violence, until he discovers that his ex-wife Laura is among the victims. Following up police suspicions, Markham goes undercover to investigate the growing number of fringe protest groups in London, and falls in with a shadowy movement based in the comfortable Thameside estate of Chelsea Marina. Led by a charismatic doctor, it aims to stir up the docile middle classes, to free them from the self-imposed burdens of civic responsibility and service, pensions and health insurance, private schools and nannies -- and to tear down the consumer society in search of a more meaningful existence. As Markham tries to find the truth behind Laura's death, he is swept up in a campaign that spirals rapidly out of control. Every certainty in his life comes into question as the cornerstones of middle England become the targets of violent attack, and a growing panic grips the capital.