Imagining a Future Where a Spy Could Disappear

In an excerpt from Emily St. John Mandel’s latest novel, Exit Party, the narrative explores the precarious nature of identity and surveillance in a high-stakes environment. The story follows a secret agent who finds themselves navigating a world where the state holds absolute power over personal existence. Becoming a 'ghost'—an individual erased from official records and societal visibility—is portrayed not as a grand feat, but as a terrifyingly easy consequence of running afoul of government authorities. Mandel’s prose highlights the fragility of digital and physical identity, illustrating how quickly one can be discarded by the systems they once served. The excerpt serves as a chilling reflection on privacy, state control, and the ease with which modern surveillance can dismantle a person's life, leaving readers to contemplate the thin line between being a citizen and becoming an invisible target of the state.