The third book in a loose trilogy by cyberpunk legend Gibson, author of Neuromancer and Mona Lisa Overdrive, Zero History is set in the present, a snapshot of the world as it was last week, but with that sci-fi sheen of cutting-edge cool that only Gibson ‘s unique vision can impart. Advertising agencies, fashion shows, motor-cycle couriers, military fashion and industrial espionage are all combined in a book that’s as much a sly comedy as a clever thriller.

Hollis Henry, an ex-drummer who lost most of her money in the crash and hasn’t seen her boyfriend since he jumped off the world’s tallest building in Dubai, finds herself grudgingly working for Hubertus Bigend, the brilliantly-named zeitgeist-surfing millionaire with his fingers in many pies. Now he has has eye designing uniforms for the military and the lucrative streetwear market that goes with it. Milgrim is also working for Bigend too. He lost ten years of his life to prescription drugs. Detoxed and reinvented, he translates and runs errands and never asks questions.

Hollis and Milgrim are set the task of tracking down the designer of a mysterious line of denim clothing. Bigend is curious about the secretive tactics of ‘anti-branding.’ Hollis is having second thoughts about the whole thing, and Milgrim is wondering why he’s being followed by a US agent who is sending him messages over a Twitter account. Rival designers with ex-military connections are unimpressed with Bigend’s end run for military contracts and set out to remove the competition, and Milgrim and Hollis soon find themselves embroiled in a tense, dangerous game of cat and mouse.

Set mostly in London,with quick trips to Paris and the US, Zero History is a novel of slick, clean surfaces, ubiquitous brand-names and evolving technologies. It is a comedy, a thriller, and a portrait of the utter strangeness of the modern world. And it’s a damn good read.