First published 2010
Wyman Ford accepts a covert mission to Cambodia, tasked with tracking down mysterious gemstones that seem to originate beyond Earth. Meanwhile, a brilliant meteor streaks across the Maine sky, prompting two young women to commandeer a boat and venture to a remote island in search of the impact site. At the National Propulsion Facility, a scientist detects an unexplained gamma ray source somewhere in the outer reaches of the solar system. His investigation ends abruptly when he turns up dead, his head severed and his crucial data vanished. High-resolution NASA imagery captures something disturbing in a Martian crater, an artificial structure that appears to have recently come online. As Ford pursues the otherworldly gems through Southeast Asia, these separate incidents begin converging into a pattern that suggests humanity faces an imminent extraterrestrial threat. With only sixty hours remaining, Ford must connect the dots between alien artifacts, astronomical anomalies, and brutal murder before whatever force has awakened decides Earth's fate.
Genres: science-fiction, adventure, action, aliens
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: high-stakes, race-against-time
Setting: Cambodia, Maine, National Propulsion Facility, Mars
Period: 60 Hours
364 pages · Hardcover · Forge Books