The story revolves around an exclusive apartment tower called The Man, so called because it has been constructed in the shape of a man (legs, torso, neck, head). In the prologue we are introduced to its designer, the eccentric architect Harry Wall. He has become obsessed with his latest creation and dies of a drug overdose while hallucinating. At the time of his death he is gazing at The Man, thinking that he can see the building walking.

We meet Ridley Case, an architect who hears of Wall’s death on the radio. Curious as to the circumstances of Wall's death, Ridley goes to his house and finds documentation and strange drawings relating to the design of The Man. He learns that the iron used in the steel frame of The Man has come from a mine called Gavour in Eastern Quebec. Iron mined from this deposit has been known to inexplicably “move”, always in the direction of its native Gavour. Ridley gets in touch with Ray Deslak, the owner of a website that collects tales of such rogue iron. It turns out that iron from Gavour, in order to move, must draw energy from people. Deslak shows up at Ridley’s office and the two of them move into an empty apartment in The Man in the knowledge that Wall’s fantasy was to use the building’s residents as an energy source for the iron in The Man’s steel frame, thus giving the structure the power to walk. They discover that it is only a matter of time before the tower begins to move, and Ridley finds out that there is more to Deslak than meets the eye. And so begins Ridley’s frantic quest to save the residents of the complex and prevent Armageddon from being unleashed in the City Of Angels…

John Leahy

Books

Audiobooks