From the Hugo Award-winning author of The Rhesus Chart comes another supernatural case from The Laundry Files...

Dominique O’Brien—her friends call her Mo—lives a curious double life with her husband, Bob Howard. To the average civilian, they’re boring middle-aged civil servants. But within the labyrinthine secret circles of Her Majesty’s Government, they’re operatives working for the nation’s occult security service known as the Laundry, charged with defending Britain against dark supernatural forces threatening humanity.

Unfortunately, one of those supernatural threats has come between Mo and Bob. An antique violin, an Erich Zahn original, made of white human bone, was designed to produce music capable of slaughtering demons. Mo is the custodian of this unholy instrument. It invades her dreams and yearns for the blood of her colleagues—and her husband. And despite Mo’s proficiency as a world-class violinist, it cannot be controlled…

Hugo Award-winning author Charles Stross presents the next case in The Laundry Files, “a weirdly alluring blend of super-spy thriller, deadpan comic fantasy, and Lovecraftian horror” (Kirkus Reviews).

Dominique O’Brien—her friends call her Mo—lives a curious double life with her husband, Bob Howard. To the average civilian, they’re boring middle-aged civil servants. But within the labyrinthian secret circles of Her Majesty’s government, they’re operatives working for the nation’s occult security service known as the Laundry, charged with defending Britain against dark supernatural forces threatening humanity.

Mo’s latest assignment is assisting the police in containing an unusual outbreak: ordinary citizens suddenly imbued with extraordinary abilities of the super-powered kind. Unfortunately these people prefer playing super-pranks instead of super-heroics. The Mayor of London being levitated by a dumpy man in Trafalgar Square would normally be a source of shared amusement for Mo and Bob, but they’re currently separated because something’s come between them—something evil.

An antique violin, an Erich Zann original, made of human white bone, was designed to produce music capable of slaughtering demons. Mo is the custodian of this unholy instrument. It invades her dreams and yearns for the blood of her colleagues—and her husband. And despite Mo’s proficiency as a world class violinist, it cannot be controlled…

A tale set at the end of the twenty-first century finds the planet's divided hominid population subjected to the forces of a splintery metaconsciousness that inundates networks with plans for cataclysmic technologies, prompting an unwitting jury member to participate in a grueling decision.

A tale set at the end of the twenty-first century finds the planet's divided hominid population subjected to the forces of a splintery metaconsciousness that inundates networks with plans for cataclysmic technologies, prompting an unwitting jury member to participate in a grueling decision.

Edimburgo, anno 2017, il sergente Sue Smith della polizia scozzese è chiamata a occuparsi di un caso decisamente inconsueto. Una rapina in banca ha avuto luogo alla Hayek Associates - una start-up digitale appena sbarcata alla borsa di Londra. Ma il crimine in questione sembra andare ben oltre le competenze di Smith: i principali sospettati sono una banda di orchi con un drago al seguito per il supporto di fuoco. La banca si trova infatti nel territorio virtuale di Avalon Four e una rapina del genere doveva risultare impossibile. Quando la voce si sparge, la Hayek Associates e tutte le economie virtuali rischiano una crisi senza precedenti. Più Sue Smith indaga meno le cose sembrano avere senso. Una cosa è certa: la rapina è solo l'inizio, altri giocatori, ben più potenti, stanno osservando ogni sua mossa, pronti a trasformare la crisi finanziaria virtuale in un problema nazionale di proporzioni globali. In "Arresto di sistema" si passa con nonchalance dalle rapine ai danni di banche virtuali alle meraviglie della realtà aumentata, dai giochi on-line a quelli pervasivi per le strade scozzesi, dai conflitti di competenze tra forze di polizia alla dura vita di freelance e dipendenti alle prese con superiori più o meno competenti, il tutto insaporito da una spruzzata di spionaggio internazionale e qualche omicidio assortito.

This outstanding collection of short stories features some of the best of Tor.com original fiction, in audio for the first time. Written for and originally published exclusively on Tor.com, this audiobook includes Nebula and World Fantasy Award-nominated short stories, brand-new fiction from bestselling authors, and tales that feature characters and worlds that listeners already know and love.

In this unique story collection, listeners will enjoy fiction from Sylvia Day, John Scalzi, Brandon Sanderson, and many others. The collection includes:

“Earth Hour” by Ken MacLeod
“Eve of Sin City” by Sylvia Day, featuring Evangeline Hollis of the Marked series
“The President’s Brain is Missing” by John Scalzi
“Overtime” by Charles Stross, set in the world of The Laundry Files
“Firstborn” by Brandon Sanderson
“Down on the Farm” by Charles Stross, set in the world of The Laundry Files
“After the Coup” by John Scalzi
“The Finite Canvas” by Brit Mandelo
“Swift, Brutal Retaliation” by Meghan McCarron
“Portrait of Lisane da Patagnia” by Rachel Swirsky