The Execution Channel [Hardcover]

'Ken MacLeod's The Execution Channel starts like a techno-thriller "ripped from tomorrow's headlines", a thrilling, fast-moving tale of suspense rife with paranoia and multiple conspiracy theories. However, it's deeper and more thoughtful than most thrillers. MacLeod vividly and economically portrays an all-too-plausible world in which war has spread across the Middle East and Central Asia; millions of Americans live in FEMA concentration camps due to climate change; the British Government is considering deporting all Muslims, and what's really happening is hidden in a blizzard of disinformation and propaganda. This is politically engaged, speculative fiction at its finest, with a conclusion that's absolutely mind-blowing.' THE TIMES 'Politically engaged, speculative fiction at its finest, with a conclusion that's absolutely mind-blowing' The Times 'Jaw-droppingly audacious' SFX 'A very good book, perhaps the best Ken MacLeod has written to date . . . The Execution Channel is an extraordinary novel' STRANGE HORIZONS 'The Execution Channel is a top-notch thriller . . . a darkly entertaining read. Macleod has great fun spinning and unspinning the fears and memes of our age. His perspective on blogging and its effect on the powerful will amuse bloggers and their readers. And his alternate reality version of 9/11, which serves (in my mind at least) as a thorough debunking of conspiracy theorists, is almost worth the price of the book alone.' 26Books.com

Ken MacLeod's The Execution Channel starts like a techno-thriller "ripped from tomorrow's headlines", a thrilling, fast-moving tale of suspense rife with paranoia and multiple conspiracy theories. However, it's deeper and more thoughtful than most thrillers. MacLeod vividly and economically portrays an all-too-plausible world in which war has spread across the Middle East and Central Asia; millions of Americans live in FEMA concentration camps due to climate change; the British Government is considering deporting all Muslims, and what's really happening is hidden in a blizzard of disinformation and propaganda. This is politically engaged, speculative fiction at its finest, with a conclusion that's absolutely mind-blowing. (THE TIMES )

Politically engaged, speculative fiction at its finest, with a conclusion that's absolutely mind-blowing (The Times )

Jaw-droppingly audacious (SFX )

A very good book, perhaps the best Ken MacLeod has written to date . . . The Execution Channel is an extraordinary novel (STRANGE HORIZONS ) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Ken MacLeod's most relevant and accessible novel to date. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Fighting has spread across the Middle East and Central Asia to the borders of China. In the US, refugees from climate-change disasters subsist in FEMA camps. Images of official executions circulate on the internet like al Qaeda videos. State agencies sponsor conspiracy theories as cover-ups. As the troops of the last superpower stand astride the last of the oil, China and Russia aren't the only states considering their options: certain nations od Old Europe are quietly preparing for the worst. James Travis is a middle-aged middle manager in a software company. He has a son in the army, a daughter in a peace-protest camp outside a USAF base and a compromising relationship with a foreign intelligence service. When his cover is blown hours before a nuclear explosion destroys the base, Travis, his son and his daughter are all in serious trouble. Roisin Travis knows that what exploded was no ordinary weapon - and not just because her brother had warned her that something strange and dangerous was on its way. As his daughter discovers that a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing, James Travis flees north through an England torn between the US and Europe, and divided by its own dark suspicions. As the spooks and disinformation specialists focus their efforts on his capture, Travis knows that all it will take is one mistake and his only memorial will be another grainy video on The Execution Channel.

Since graduating from Glasgow University in 1976, Ken MacLeod has worked as a computer analyst in Edinburgh. He now writes full time.