The Orb

Book excerpt: A massive alien artifact, the Orb, abruptly appears over London. In the following decades the shock of the uncommunicative, motionless and enigmatic Orb's arrival triggers a global economic collapse leading to war. After nations fall into a new Dark Age, the Orb is worshiped as a god by the Pilgrims of the Church, triggering a genocidal religious conflict. Pilgrims' access to the Orb is controlled by the secular Orb Industries who are in a cold war with the Church for control of their deity. Under the shadow of the Orb, Peter, a renowned computer scientist, is desperate to discover who murdered his daughter and why. The authorities believe it was suicide and have closed the case. With no clues, Peter uses his skills to resurrect his daughter, who directs him to Zip, a sixty-year-old woman who has recently been medically transplanted into the corpse of a teenage porn-star. After decades of blood and war, Zip just wants to have fun.Peter wants to prove his daughter didn't commit suicide. Together, their search for the killer will reveal the awful truth of the Orb. A revelation so shocking it brings the cold war between Orb Industries and the Church to boiling point, threatening a global conflagration.