Author(s): Paul McAuley

Fiction

Nicholas Hyde, a volunteer charity worker in Africa, is part of a team which is ambushed by small, ape-like creatures - pale, fierce and preternaturally strong - who slaughter most of the group in a matter of minutes. 'Diable blanc' the team's government observer calls them - 'white devils' - but after the rescue he falls in with the official story and claims instead he saw only rebel troops in body paint. The cover-up seems to originate from Obligate, the company that effectively owns the Congo. Shell-shocked and angry, Nicholas refuses to cooperate. He knows what he saw, and he will tell the truth. And that's when people around him start to die. On his quest to find out the truth, Nick journeys into the heart of darkness of 21st century Africa - the Dead Zone. There, he will discover a reality almost too horrifying to contemplate.