Tobias Hill — The Cryptographer

Faber & Faber Limited 2003 Paperback, 264pp. John Law is Anna's latest client, and her most formidable challenge. The 'Cryptographer', people call him. He is mysterious and charming, the world's first quadrillionaire, the inventor of an unbreakable code, the creator of the world's first great electric currency. In the new millennium, it is no longer quite acceptable to admire the rich. But Law is both distrusted and admired more than most, more than Anna understands. That will have to change. Rule number one: information is the inspector's greatest weapon. And Anna needs to know - what is it that a man like John Law would seek to hide, and why? From the acclaimed author of Underground and The Love of Stones, The Cryptographer is a brilliant vision of the London of tomorrow and an unforgettable story of codes, love and money. 'A supremely elegant and ambiguous thriller.' Sunday Times 'Hill at his finest and most compressed . Every page is like a heartbeat in the elongated story of a life, each beat essential, each word a nanosecond of barely unskippable breath. Engage, and you're hooked . [He] is that rarity, a novelist who gets better with every book. He makes reading a joy.' Scotsman 'An intelligent, brooding novel that lingers in the mind.' Daily Mail 'Hill has a real feel for language, but a great talent for keeping his readers hooked, too. This novel about 'loves, codes and money' looks set to hook him even more fans.' The Times 'One of the two or three most original and interesting novelists working in Britain today.' A. S. Byatt, Guardian. (ISBN: 0571218369). Good.