A fast-paced thriller combining the forces of fear, love, heroism and extraordinary adventure. 'In northern India a twelve-year-old boy is being interrogated by three intelligence officers. A tape-recorder turns; there is no air conditioning, no fan. Everyone but the boy is sweating: his tale is so incredible that none dares believe it.' The child appears to be the reincarnation of a dead British secret agent: his knowledge is that of a grown man, Matthew Hyde, who disappeared in China's Sinkiang province whilst investigating the links between Iraqi nuclear scientists and Chinese research bases. Somewhere -- and only the boy knows the secret -- there is a massive conspiracy to supply Saddam Hussein with a weapon against which there can be no defence. From the corridors of power in London to the lost cities of the Taklamakan desert, this crackling novel encompasses fear, love, heroism and extraordinary adventure.