His life is dominated by the Zone and the thriving black market in the alien products. Even the nature of his daughter has been determined by the Zone.

And it is for her that Red makes his last, tragic foray into the hazardous and hostile depths. Readers can't stop thinking about Roadside Picnic: 'A story of a horrific yet fascinating place, a story of an ordinary and unlikable man just trying to get by, a philosophical interlude on humanity and its significance or lack thereof, of greed and wonder, and the fever dream of the soul scream.