The Peripheral

William Gibson returns with his first novel since 2010€s New York Times€“bestselling Zero History.

Where Flynne and her brother, Burton, live, jobs outside the drug business are rare. Fortunately, Burton has his veteran€s benefits, for neural damage he suffered from implants during his time in the USMC€s elite Haptic Recon force. Then one night Burton has to go out, but there€s a job he€s supposed to do€"a job Flynne didn€t know he had. Beta-testing part of a new game, he tells her. The job seems to be simple: work a perimeter around the image of a tower building. Little buglike things turn up. He€s supposed to get in their way, edge them back. That€s all there is to it. He€s offering Flynne a good price to take over for him. What she sees, though, isn€t what Burton told her to expect. It might be a game, but it might also be murder.