First published 2000
A cult member plants a nerve gas attack in Tokyo's subway system. A gallery worker at the Hermitage in St. Petersburg tends to priceless art. A jazz enthusiast wanders through Tokyo's neon streets while a corrupt lawyer schemes in Hong Kong. A radio DJ spins records in Manhattan as a physicist contemplates quantum mechanics in Ireland. An old woman serves tea in rural China while a musician composes in London. A transmigrating spirit drifts through Mongolia, seeking its next host. These nine people live separate lives across continents, yet invisible threads bind their fates together. Small actions ripple outward, creating consequences that span oceans and cultures. A chance encounter in one city triggers events in another. A decision made in desperation saves a stranger thousands of miles away. As their stories unfold, the connections multiply and tighten. What begins as coincidence reveals itself as something larger. The planet shrinks as lives converge, and each character must confront the same fundamental need for human connection that drives us all toward either creation or destruction.
Genres: literary-fiction, mystery, contemporary, thriller
Vibes: atmospheric, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: interconnected-narratives, transmigration
Setting: Tokyo, St. Petersburg, Hong Kong, Manhattan, Ireland, China, London, Mongolia
Period: 21st-century
426 pages · Hardcover · Random House
Content warnings: violence