In the Californian desert a small, autistic child goes missing. A British rock star goes quietly mad. An alien-worshipping cult is born. An Iraqi teenager takes part in a war game. In an odd, remote town, near a rock formation known as The Pinnacles, lives and experiences intertwine, stories entangle and echo, and the search for meaning, pattern and connection in a dying universe continues. 'Compulsively readable, skilfully orchestrated ...this really is Kunzru's great American novel' Independent