THINK THIS IS REALITY? THINK AGAIN… An impossible evil is invading everyday life. Coming from a virtual world, it’s ancient and deadly. It dissolves the boundaries between reality and fiction in horrifying ways … ending up in murder. The Faith Police have a prime suspect: Lona Luminos, professional hardarse, translator to the international Mob, synthetically modified human and new recruit at creepy St Cadog’s Methodist College. Her job – translating ancient Celtic myths – should have been a gentle working holiday. But her predecessor isn’t just on sick leave, she’s been detained for ‘spiritual reprogramming’. This place is less of an ivory tower than a chamber of horrors. It’s 2071, a world recovering from the ‘Faith Wars’; religion is compulsory, and everyone in digitally monitored. So Lona, and her spiritually dodgy friends, must tread carefully in their desperate bid to solve the crime and prevent more mayhem. Tracking down the real murderer, and unravelling the mysteries of St Cadog’s, makes Lona take a long hard look at her companions – and forces her to confront her own troubled past. Everyone at this gothic Welsh college has dark secrets. Even Lona. And especially her synthetic pet wolf, Dodo. Synthetic takes a darkly humorous look at religion and the magical quality of stories. A tense science fiction crime fantasy, it also questions what it means to be human in an increasingly digital world. Fans of Neal Stephenson, Scarlett Thomas and William Gibson will enjoy Synthetic’s blend of quirky humour and dark sci-fi fantasy. WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT SYNTHETIC 'SO impressed ... thoroughly enjoyed it ... I'm looking out for more from Cat Thomas.' Sylvia, Goodreads. '...Highly entertaining and thought provoking ... the robot "direwolf" was a nice touch, too.' Frank, Goodreads. Categories: Cyberpunk, sci-fi fantasy, welsh crime, Celtic myths and legends, sci-fi humour, literary fantasy, Celtic Britain, time travel, Paganism, near future sci-fi, women detectives, university fiction.