Gabriel has worked for Soviet intelligence, but after the fall of the Soviet Union he has become a private investigator. However, he cannot cut himself off from the surreal world of international politics. Oleg, his former KGB boss, continues to haunt him. 'Would you like to buy,' he asked me once, 'a nuclear submarine? A friend of mine dismantles them up by the Arctic Circle. He will ship them to any part of the world.' As Gabriel struggles with personal problems, an acquaintance from the past asks him to help her when her lover is killed. Touched by her appeal, Gabriel makes promises he cannot keep. A psychological thriller set in London's seedy underworld.

Mikka Haugaard was born in Denmark in 1953. Her father is Danish and her mother American and she grew up bi-lingual. She studied classics at Cambridge University and did research in Roman history. She now teaches classics and psychology at a London school and lectures for the Open University. She is married with two children. She is the author of two novels: Gabriel's Bureau and the Dream Maker and i translated Marie Grubbe by Jens Peter Jacobsen for Dedalus which was published in 2015.