Wired has shared an excerpt from Emily St. John Mandel's latest novel, Exit Party. The passage centers on a secret agent character and explores what it means to become a 'ghost'—in this fictional world, that status results from crossing the state.

The excerpt suggests that in Mandel's imagined future, disappearing from official systems and society requires far less effort or circumstance than one might expect. The novel appears to examine themes of surveillance, state power, and individual vulnerability through this spy narrative.