With a new introduction by Deborah Levy and a striking new cover design by the artist Stanley Donwood, Ballard-s final novel sees consumerism evolve into something even more sinister.A gunman opens fire in a shopping mall. Not a terrorist, apparently, but a madman with a rifle. Or not, as he is mysteriously (and quickly) set free without charge.One of the victims is the father of Richard Pearson, unemployed advertising executive and life-long rebel. Now he is driving out to Brooklands, the apparently peaceful town on the M25 which has at its heart the very shiny shoppers- paradise where the shooting happened - the Metro-Centre.Then the main suspect is released - thanks to the testimony of self-styled pillars of the community like the doctor who treated Richard-s father on his deathbed. Richard, determined to unravel the mystery, starts to believe that something deeply sinister lurks behind the pristine facades of the labyrinthine mall, its 24-hour cable TV and sports club-
