When pretty, talented and very ambitious Amina Mir manages to land a newspaper work experience placement she thinks it might just be making coffee and following-up tame stories. But then, when by chance she's sent to interview Ivor MacMorris, a veteran of the war in Sinnostan who's just won millions on the lottery, but bizarrely hasn't spent a penny, things start to get interesting . . . and dangerous. Ivor thinks he's been made to forget what happened in Sinnostan. He believes false memories of how and why he lost an eye have been planted in his brain and that he's being followed by threatening faceless people. At first Amina thinks Ivor's suffering from some sort of post-traumatic stress disorder, but soon Ivor, conspiracy theorist Chi Sandwith and events persuade Amina that she could have stumbled into one of the biggest and most terrifying cover-ups ever.

A young journalist uncovers what might be the world’s biggest conspiracy—if only he can prove it For years, Chi Sandwith has written about things like alien abductions, puppet masters, and brainwashing. He’s not a “conspiracy theorist” though—he’s a serious journalist and a seeker of the Truth. When Chi meets a man who claims to be a former secret agent, it looks like evidence of a huge conspiracy has landed right in the reporter’s lap. But can Chi believe a single word he hears from the professional liar? And why is the old spook so intent on introducing Chi to a woman who could expose the agent’s dark past? Over the course of 1 day, Chi is faced with spies, anarchists, a tough-as-nails policewoman, a highly valuable refrigerator, and a very harsh He is a rank amateur in a world of dangerous professionals . . . The Need for Fear is a companion novella to Strangled Silence.