OVERTIME, a new Charlie Stross James Bond/Cthulhu thriller

Tor.com's got a new Charlie Stross "Laundry" story, part of his series of stories wherein Cthulhu meets James Bond, as part of its Cthulhu month -- there's also a podcast of the story!

All bureaucracies obey certain iron laws, and one of the oldest is this: get your seasonal leave booked early, lest you be trampled in the rush.
I broke the rule this year, and now I'm paying the price. It's not my fault I failed to book my Christmas leave in time--I was in hospital and heavily sedated. But the ruthless cut and thrust of office politics makes no allowance for those who fall in the line of battle: "You should have foreseen your hospitalization and planned around it" said the memo from HR when I complained. They're quite right, and I've made a note to book in advance next time I'm about to be abducted by murderous cultists or enemy spies.
I briefly considered pulling an extended sickie, but Brenda from Admin has a heart of gold; she pointed out that if I volunteered as Night Duty Officer over the seasonal period I could not only claim triple pay and time off in lieu, I'd also be working three grades above my assigned role. For purposes of gaining experience points in the fast-track promotion game they've steering me onto, that's hard to beat. So here I am, in the office on Christmas Eve, playing bureaucratic Pokémon as the chilly rain drums on the roof.

Overtime

Podcast MP3

Previously:

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

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Anonymous

I am disappointed that it is not based on the James Bond of the novels.
kiloseven

Superb. Everyone who has read OVERTIME (albeit at my fanatical insistence) loved it.
Donal

Excellent. Stross is one of the few writers who has a good grasp on Lovecraft and writing his own. (I’ve ploughed a of Lovecraftian anthologies and most are at best poor, with a few exceptions.
Stross’ The Atrocity Archives was fantastic. The Jennifer Morgue started well but wasn’t able to sustain the Bond/Lovecraft conceit for the entire book. Still, I’m an immediate purchasers of any new Stross/Lovecraft work.