The Minders

In the near future, information has become both the ultimate prize and the ultimate liability. Computers can be hacked and files stolen, so the British government devises a radical alternative: the Minders. Five ordinary people are selected to undergo an experimental medical procedure that turns the nation's most classified secrets into genetic code, stored inside their own minds. Between them, the five hold every state secret — every lie, every cover-up, every conspiracy — and in return they are given new identities and the chance to start their lives over.

But five people is four too many to fully trust. Each Minder is carrying private secrets of their own, and each has reasons to run. As the safeguards around them begin to fail and one of them is hunted, the line between protector and target starts to blur.

John Marrs's third Dark Future thriller turns his signature near-future paranoia inward, asking what happens when the safest place to hide a nation's secrets is inside a human being who can still make their own choices.