Prophet by Helen Macdonald

Overview: In this genre bending tour de force, award-winning and New York Times bestselling author of H Is for Hawk Helen Macdonald and debut novelist Sin Blaché deliver a strikingly original story about an unlikely spy duo on the most dangerous and otherworldly mission of their lives

Adam Rubenstein and Sunil Rao have been nemeses and reluctant partners since their Uzbekistan days. Adam is a seemingly unflappable American Intelligence officer and Rao is an ex-Mi6 agent, an addict and rudderless pleasure hound, with the uncanny ability to discern the truth of things - about everyone and everything other than Adam. When an American diner turns up in a foggy field in the UK and is followed by a mysterious death, Adam and Rao are called in to investigate.

In a reality-bending, action-packed quest that takes Adam and Rao from secret laboratories in Colorado, to a luxury lodge in Aspen, to the remote Nevada desert, the two begin to uncover how and why people's fondest memories are being manifested and weaponized against them by a spooky, ever-shifting substance called Prophet. As the unlikely duo battle this strange new reality, peoples' happiest memories are materializing in increasingly bizarre and tangible forms, ranging from toys and pets to fairground rides, which then turn malevolent. Prophet is like no enemy Adam and Rao or the world have ever come up against.

From the brilliant minds of Helen Macdonald and Sin Blaché, Prophet is a tantalizing fusion of sci fi, noir, action, and romance - set in a universe just one perilous step from our own. An unflinching sendup of corporate corruption, a tension-shot odd-couple romance, and a rollicking adventure rolled into one, Prophet is a triumph of storytelling.