A motiveless kidnapping and a solo flight to the dark side of the moon: these are the two strands that William Corlett juxtaposes in this extraordinary novel. At first the narratives seem unrelated until the reader sees in the two situations dramatic parallels which give the book its force and relevance. The story begins with the kidnapping. A boy is taken from his Scottish boarding school but there seems to be no reason behind the kidnapping: no ransom, no threats, just a note saying WE HAVE GOT YOUR BOY. MAY SOCIETY ROT AND THIS MESS OF A WORLD PERISH. While the police sift through the evidence, a lonely astronaut faces his private terrors during a critical moon flight.