Brown's novet adroitly blends the chase-scene stuffed thritters of Robert Ludtum and the learned romps of Umberto Eco...For anyone who wants more brain-food than thriUers normatty provide.

Nationat Reconnaissance Office, WashingtOn: Intettigence analyst Rachel Sexton is summoned by the President of the United States to verify a discovery which NASA claims will change the future of the planet itsetf.

Mitne Ice Shel.f, Arctic Circle: teams work feverishly to unearth an astonishingly rare object buried cleep in the ice. But, accompanied by charismatic academic Michaet Tolland, Rachel soon uncovers the unthinkable:evidence of scientific trickery. They soon find out this is not a discovery that anyone wants to hear.

Freeing for their rives in an environment as desotate as it is tethat, their only hope for survival is to find out who is behind this masterful ploy. And the truth, they witt learn,is the most shocking deception of all...