The Delirium Brief

This is the next Laundry novel from Charles Stross, and the first for a couple of books to be narrated by the original series hero Bob Howard. That might sound like a return to the earlier books, but if anything, this is Laundry 2.0. The events of the previous novel mean that this most secret of organisations has had its cover comprehensively blown, and it has to cope with some intense media scrutiny. Can the Eater Of Souls ever be a match for Jeremy Paxman? And of course, there is plenty of occult-y, eldritch-y, demons-from-another-dimension-bent-on-reducing-our-world-to-a blasted-charnel-pit-y action to be had. It's the usual fun mix of technobabble, spies, and ancient mystic evil. I admire the way Stross has taken a series that could have been in danger of becoming stale and shaken it up with new viewpoints and narrators (good news - the two leads from The Nightmare Stacks are back!). He has successfully set a new course for these novels, and I will be along for the ride.