Graft

In Matt Hill’s gritty new novel, the near future is bleak — especially in Manchester. Local mechanic Sol is forced to steal old vehicles for spares. But when Sol’s partner impulsively jacks a luxury model, Sol is caught up in a nightmarish trans-dimensional human trafficking conspiracy.

Hidden in the stolen car’s boot is a mute, three-armed woman called Y. She’s had her memory erased and has been heavily “augmented” in another world before being taken on a harrowing journey towards a guarded wormhole in a decommissioned nuclear facility. Once in Britain, she’ll be a bodyguard for a wealthy Londoner named Havelock — who expects his delivery at all costs.

Now Sol and Y are on the run from both Y’s traffickers and their faithful “products”. With the help of a sociopathic hitman and Sol’s ex-girlfriend, they must uncover the true, terrifying extent of the trafficking operation, or it’s all over.

Not that there was much hope to begin with.