This is the way the world ends; not with a bang, but with a whisper a whisper of wings! Death has come out of Africa in the form of swarms of vicious African flies. A living plague, these monstrous bugs cannot be battled like some ordinary disease.

Medical science is unable to prevent the deadly autoimmune reaction caused by the bite of these insects. Across the world, billions are dead and more are constantly dying. Governments are falling everywhere, and civilization is collapsing. The flies are everywhere and everywhere they swarm, they bring death.

A few claim that the bugs are a freak mutation, while others believe that they are a man-made plague. Still, as all hope disappears, mankind ceases to care. The fatal flies are a plague sent by God, or so many of those dying claim.

However, not everyone is dying. A small number of people seem immune. They name themselves Mungus and they teach that man should accept the judgment of the flies, allowing themselves to be bitten by the "flies of the Lord".

Into the land of the dead and dying comes Nigel, an investigative reporter, searching for a kidnapped African boy named Bandora. Nigel, who is married to Abby, seeks redemption in a world where there is no such thing as forgiveness. On a quest for the truth, his journey takes him down a long road of self-discovery into the world of the head Mungu, a strange man who speaks the truth in riddles and is not afraid of the deadly flies.

Here is a novel about the end of the world, of the apocalypse; a story about the fragile bonds that hold not only marriages, but also civilizations together. It's also a story about truth and how we treat it. Do we embrace it with our soul or reject it completely. And most of all, it is about how we face truth in ourselves.

Sarah Pinborough