Vail

Following a motorway accident in which both his wife and daughter are killed, Jack Vail, now alone in the world, finds himself in London—though it is not quite the city as we know it.While his home in the North of England was stricken with poverty and radiation poisoning, the capital is characterized by consumerism, media-obsession and moral corruption. Basic manufacturing no longer exists, but pornography, show business and money-marketing flourish.Vail is immediately drawn into this sinister world, yet throughout the novel he attempts to maintain a belief in a larger order of things. In such a society, however, it seems impossible to defy the chaos, and it isn't long before Vail is engulfed by the ever-developing anarchy surrounding him.Through his nightmarish vision of the country in a not-too-distant future, award-winning author Trevor Hoyle vividly reflects the grim mood of 1980s Britain, the period in which this cult novel was originally published.