Alien Space Thriller

Private eye Charlie Meiklejohn is called in by insurance companies to investigate a suspected serial arsonist. The arsonist, Carson Danvers, has been on a fanatical crusade since the loss of his wife and son, burning down a series of old, shut-up wooden buildings in which random outbreaks of madness and murder have been occurring. Meiklejohn begins to follow the criminal's trail, but finds himself teaming up with his quarry to face the source of these strange outbreaks: a malfunctioning alien space probe.

In the mid-23rd century, Darwin, Australia, stands as the last human city on Earth. The world has succumbed to an alien plague, with most of the population transformed into mindless, savage creatures. The planet’s refugees flock to Darwin, where a space elevator—created by the architects of this apocalypse, the Builders—emits a plague-suppressing aura.