When The Sparrow Falls

1984 meets Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep in a John le Carré thriller.

In the future, AI are everywhere - over half the human race lives online. But in the Caspian Republic, the last true human beings have made their stand; and now the repressive, one-party state is locked in perpetual cold war with the outside world. 

Security Agent Nikolai South is given a seemingly mundane task; escorting a dead journalist’s widow while she visits the Caspian Republic to identify her husband’s remains. But Paulo Xirau was AI; and as Nikolai and Lily delve deeper into the circumstances surrounding Paulo’s death, South must choose between his loyalty to his country and his conscience.

“A gripping and intriguing debut.” -- Amelia Mellor, author of The Grandest Bookshop in the World

"A propulsive science fiction thriller... richly imagined [and] expertly told." -- Kevin Power, author of Bad Day in Blackrock and White City

"The world of the Caspian Republic is drawn with precision worthy of Philip K. Dick and the plot, with its gripping twists and turns, is worthy of comparison with Le Carré at his best. Rarely does such an exciting and innovative new voice emerge, both refreshing the genre and reminding the reader of what made them fall in love with it in the first place." -- Jessica Traynor, essayist and poet