| The Concrete Jungle | |
 | |
| Type | novella |
| Publication date | 2005 |
| Timeline Order | |
| Preceded by The Atrocity Archives |
Followed by The Jennifer Morgue |
"The Concrete Jungle" is a 2004 science fiction novella by Charles Stross. It is about an agent who works for a secret British intelligence organization handling supernatural cases, and his discovery that someone has hacked into their deadly network.
Plot[]
Bob Howard, an agent for “The Laundry,” has just discovered that someone has hacked into his organization’s extremely deadly alien prevention network (SCORPION STARE). As he re-traces the intruder’s steps he comes across more and more wild information regarding Gorgonism, secret Nazi experiments, the true reason for DRM, a camera network that can kill instantly and an internal coup involving bizarre agents of the underworld. He takes it all in stride though, and consistently performs his duties – but will his loyalties hold up in the end when innocent police detectives and several of his co-workers are involved in a deadly political power play? Hmm… a very good question indeed.
Link[]
You can read a free HTML version of this story archived from Golden Gryphon Press (Creative Commons license) at The Internet Archive.