"Profound and devilishly clever . . . an exhilarating read!" -Michael Hartnett, author of The Blue Rat

Chester Clink, serial killer extraordinaire, has struck again, dumping the body of a young blonde woman in the town square to tease Grave into action-and distraction.

Confusing the situation are nine additional bodies found at the same time, all the work of scythe-swinging Death 867, the local soul collector, who is in the throes of a mid-death crisis. He's tired of his job and wants to save time by collecting bodies in a central location rather than taking them where and when they were intended to die.

Meanwhile, all the Officer Larrys and other simdroids are behaving strangely. They seem to be more human than usual. Could this be the beginning of the singularity, the time when machines take dominion over humankind?

As Grave and his team try to make sense of it all, Chester Clink joins forces with Death 867 to target Grave's fiancé, Polly Loblolly, setting off an intense, heart-pumping conclusion.

It's 2056, the year of the dark deadly deadliness of death.