It was named one of the year's best novels by the New York Times Book Review and short-listed for a British Fantasy Society Award.

The novel starts at the end of 1999, when Kristin, a teenage drop-out, answers a sexual ad written by a man who calls himself the Occupant.

Behind the poetic language of the ad, it is clear that the Occupant is looking for a sexual slave, yet Kristin accepts the pact and goes to live in his house in Los Angeles.

Their relationship evolves, until, after a climactic moment, the girl understands that she has replaced the Occupant's partner, who disappeared.

Next we hear the story of Angie, whose real name is Saki, the daughter of a Japanese physicist working for a US defense project.