In his darker moments, Martin Rosenthal can't help but compare the trajectory of his life with that of his grandfather, Frank. On the one hand, school, A-levels, going to university. On the other, an American citizen volunteering for the RAF as a fighter pilot, a hero of the Battle of Britain, transferring to bombers when the US enters the war, a final blaze of glory . . .
For Martin his own earth-bound existence seems like a scale-model of the real thing, his obsession with aeroplanes a pale imitation of Frank's duels with air and fire and gravity. But all that is about to change. First the enigmatic Chrisantha introduces Martin to the weightless pleasure and crashing pain of love, then her brother Rupert involves him in a break-in at the university lab, searching for evidence of a secret weapons project. Suddenly Martin's life is spiralling out of control, leading him into a dangerous labyrinth of truth, lies and illusions, where death - and the ghost of his grandfather - lurk at the centre.
