Fowler is one of the hidden treasures of popular fiction, equally at ease writing horror, idiosyncratic cop investigations with his increasingly popular Bryant and May series , SF or even affectionate memoirs about the bookish life that brought him to writing. His new novel is a sheer delight, a sly nod to J.G. Ballard's magical Vermilion Sands series, a surrealistic resort where everything and anything could happen. Fowler's equally exotic locale is actually Dubai, but not as we know it, as a set of children begin to disappear from a luxury hotel, against a background of migrant worker abuse. With subtle elements of horror borrowed from THE STEPFORD WIVES , THE WIZARD OF OZ and ROSEMARY'S BABY , his left of field thriller flatters to deceive in the way Fowler succeeds in dragging a harsh reality into a tale of artifices in an artificial land. Rewarding. ~ Maxim Jakubowski
The new contemporary thriller from bestselling crime and horror author Christopher Fowler. In Dubai there's a new world of high-luxury resorts emerging for the super-rich - but at what price to everyone else?Lea, Roy and their 15 year-old daughter Cara live in a gated community reserved for foreign workers. Roy has been hired to deal with teething problems at Dream World, a futuristic beach complex. In the oppressive heat, the wives appear happy to follow behind their husbands, cooking and arranging tea parties, but Lea finds herself a virtual prisoner in a land where Western women are regarded with indifference and suspicion.At least there are a few friendly outsiders who don't enjoy the conformity of the ex-pat community - until one night, when the most outspoken one dies in a suspicious accident. It's the first in a string of terrible occurrences that divide the foreign workers. Lea's neighbours start to blame migrants, locals and even each other.Lea is convinced that deliberate acts of cruelty are being committed - but is there a real threat to her life, or is she becoming paranoid? And what if the thing she fears most is really happening? What happens in a world where only the rich are important? Welcome to a future that's five minutes away, where rebellion against conformity can lead to the unthinkable
Christopher Fowler is the award-winning author of over thirty novels and twelve short story collections, and the Bryant & May mystery novels, which record the adventures of two Golden Age detectives investigating impossible London crimes. His latest books are the sinister comedy-thriller ‘Plastic’, the memoir ‘Film Freak’ and the haunted-house novel ‘Nyctophobia’. Other work includes the ‘War of the Worlds’ videogame, a graphic novel and a Hammer horror radio play. He has a weekly column in The Independent On Sunday. He spends his time between London and Barcelona..
Christopher Fowler was the winner of the CWA Dagger in the Library 2015.
