New York City, the near future: Mitchell Zukor works on the cutting edge of corporate irresponsibility, and business is booming. A gifted mathematician, he spends his days in Manhattan calculating worst-case scenarios for FutureWorld, a consulting firm that indemnifies corporations against potential disasters. As Mitchell immerses himself in the mathematics of catastrophe, he exchanges letters with Elsa Bruner – a college crush with an apocalyptic secret of her own – and becomes obsessed by a culture’s fears. When his predictions culminate in a nightmarish crescendo, Mitchell realises he is uniquely prepared to profit from the disaster. But at what cost?

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