Ordinary Thunderstorms by William Boyd

One may evening in London, as a result of a chance encounter and a split second decision, a young climatologist called Adam Kindred loses everything – home, job, reputation, passport, credit cards, mobile phone – never to get them back.
Adam has no choice. The police and a ruthless hit man are after him. So he goes underground, joining ranks of the disappeared that throng London’s lowest levels as he struggles to understand how his life has unravelled so spectacularly. His journey of discovery will take him along the river Thames, from affluent Chelsea to the sink estates of the East End. On the way he will encounter aristocrats, prostitutes, evangelists and a policewoman – and version after new version of himself.

William Boyd’s electric follow-up to Costa Novel of the Year Restless is a heart-in-mouth conspiracy novel about the fragility of social identity, the corruption at the heart of big business, and the secrets that lie hidden in the filthy underbelly of every city.