Paul McAuley is a former research scientist at Oxford University and UCLA, and a former lecturer in botany at St. Andrews University. This is his debut thriller and marks the arrival of a major British talent in this field. He is available for interview and comment, particularly in regard to the dangers of biotechnology and the interface of profit and science.

Paul McAuley's first novel, Four Hundred Billion Stars, won the Philip K. Dick Memorial Award, and his novel, Fairyland, won the 1995 Arthur C Clarke Award for best SF novel published in Britain and the John W Campbell Award for best novel. In 1995 his short story 'The Temptation of Dr Stein' won the British Fantasy Award, and in 1996 the novel Pasquale's Angel won the Sidewise Award for Best Long Form Alternate History fiction.