Some people have a Guardian Angel. Others aren't so lucky and have a Guardian Devil.
On the first night of autumn, Yorkshirewoman and lifelong green campaigner Verity Player comes face-to-face with Lancastrian evil genius Stan 'Satanic' Mills, who has been stalking her throughout her adult life.
She recognises him from an incident in her youth. He's the mastermind behind the spread of an idea so simple — and so fundamental to everyday living — that few people would think to question it.
But Verity has long ago grasped its infernal logic. She knows it as the mechanism that lurks behind humanity's apparent death wish. And now, facing its creator, she's the only mortal who can fight to make him halt it before its final, devastating phase.
Her struggle pitches her into a surreal game. Desperate, she bargains for a sporting chance.
But this comes at a price: the forfeit of her precious conscience if she fails to strike the first blow by New Year.