Nine days before the global release of a genetically-modified seed coating set to make starvation history, the IT advisor for an environmental group receives a cryptic email from an old friend working for the seed corporation.

   The email triggers a frantic manhunt from the glass towers of Los Angeles to the towering rainforests of New Zealand as the corporation's security chief tries to track down and silence the English IT advisor and his colleagues - an American biologist and New Zealand eco-warrior.

   As the clock ticks down to the much-anticipated and highly stage-managed release of the coated seeds, the trio are pitched against ruthless corporate thugs, law enforcement agencies, politicians and bloggers - and the overwhelming weight of world opinion.