Set in an unspecified but eerily familiar time and landscape, this is
the story ofMark, a protagonist whostruggles against the machinations of
a hostile society and bureaucracy. Suffering at first from the
persecution of his father as a conscientious objector, his life quickly
comes under the control of the Machiavellian Mr. Spector, an influential
government minister who arranges Mark's education, later employment, and
even accommodation. It is when Mark tries to break free from Spector's
influence that his life begins to unravel."