Gridlinked

The hunter becomes the hunted in Gridlinked, the first sci-fi thriller in Neal Asher's compelling Agent Cormac series. When a portal to other planets explodes on Samarkand, thousands are killed and a terraforming project is obliterated. Earth Central Security suspects sabotage – and assigns a legendary investigator. But Agent Ian Cormac has his own problems. Years spent mentally linked to the Polity’s AI network have eroded his humanity, and this gridlink has to be severed or he’ll die. Without it, he has only his wits (and Shuriken, a throwing star with a mind of its own) to rely on. Cormac’s disastrous last mission also haunts him – as a psychopath and a murderous android track him across the galaxy, seeking revenge. Meanwhile, the ice-bound planet of Samarkand hides deadly secrets beneath its surface . . . secrets Cormac is about to disturb. Gridlinked is followed by The Line of Polity, the second title in the Agent Cormac series. * Praise for the series: 'Asher is a modern master of Sci-Fi' – Starburst 'Imaginative, energetic and insane' – SFX 'A complex, multilayered story' – The Guardian