Child Zero

'Cements Smith's position as the queen of the speculative crime thriller ́ David Goodman

'We should all be reading Eve's cautionary tales ́ Philippa East

`Yet another piece of insightfully thrilling writing from the master of ethical science dystopia ́ SciFi Now

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The birth rate is collapsing. Not because people can't have children. Because they don't want them.

In a Britain buckling under climate chaos, economic breakdown and growing unrest, the government is running out of time. Baby bonuses, motherhood medals, state adoption schemes – nothing is rebuilding a generation that has almost vanished.

Kit is a giraffe keeper at a local wildlife park, more at ease with animals than people. Part of a movement for voluntary human extinction, she believes the future depends on action, not words.

Ayla is a plant scientist at a prestigious biotech firm. Adopted by the state at birth, she was raised to believe motherhood is her duty. But no matter how hard she tries, she cannot carry a child to term.

Then Kit receives a message from an elusive whistleblower, claiming to have evidence that could bring down the government. As her path collides with Ayla's, they uncover a deception more horrifying than either could have imagined.

One that will tear their lives – and the country – apart...

Queen of the ethical medical thriller, Eve Smith, returns with a provocative, unsettling speculative thriller about motherhood, choice and the dangerous line between protecting the future and controlling it ... in a world running out of children...