Cat's Cradle

Published in 1963, this novel is narrated by a writer who sets out to gather material on the late Felix Hoenikker, a father of the atomic bomb, and instead finds ice-nine, a crystal that can freeze water at ordinary temperatures. The search leads from New England to the Caribbean island of San Lorenzo, where a dictator, a sugar fortune, Hoenikker's damaged children, and the outlawed comic religion of Bokononism share the same small state. The book is a satirical fable about science without conscience and belief as a useful lie. It follows a gathering of heirs and officials toward a climatic accident, without being a conventional mystery.

Bound in grey-green soft touch laminated paper printed and blocked on cover with a colour picture. Grey slipcase front printed with a blue pattern.