Plan for Chaos: the Prequel to The Day of the Triffids / John Wyndham

A new Wyndham novel? Not exactly! This work was written in 1951, the same year that Wyndham wrote his most famous novel – The Day of the Triffids. But Triffids overshadowed Plan for Chaos, and it wasn’t until 2010 that Chaos was finally published by Penguin.

In a city that could well be New York, a series of identical women are found dead in suspicious circumstances. Magazine photographer Johnny Farthing, who is reporting on the suspected murders, is chilled to discover that his fiancée looks identical to the victims too – and then she disappears. As his investigations spiral beyond his control, he finds himself at the heart of a sinister plot involving cloning. Part detective noir, part thriller, Plan for Chaos reveals the legendary science fiction novelist grappling with some of his most urgent and personal themes.