A Sydney pole dancer known as ‘the Doll’ has a one-night stand with a Muslim. The next day she’s the subject of a massive witchhunt as a suspected terrorist. After 9/11, the Bali bombings, and the Iraq war, Aus­tralians are ripe for the fear­mon­ger­ing of the media. An escalating cycle of hype and fear and ever more lurid headlines plunges the Doll into a waking nightmare from which she cannot escape.

This novel indicts everyone: the ordinary people who un­think­ing­ly condone events; the security forces with their own agenda; and most of all, the media who seize on a good story without caring about the truth. It’s all too plausible, alas.