It calls itself "C", it needs help to survive and grow, it communicates with people via the internet.

It was brought into being by a schoolboy - by David Stopes - in a biology project, the mobile phone had exploded in the jam jar, the cockroaches inside had all disappeared.

Two years on, Inspector Wilderman is the first to notice the link between two strange deaths and to understand the danger, but nobody believes him - until David and his partner, Sandra, repeat the jam jar experiment. The consequences are disastrous not only for Sandra's hairdressing business and its clients, but also for Anglo-Spanish diplomatic relations - and for C itself.

It takes the might of the US intelligence services and the French Army to attempt a cure, and the unfortunate but necessary destruction of Angélie's farmhouse, high up in the Massif Central. But is it enough to ensure C's full return to health?