Description

In Nebula Awardwinning author Jack McDevitts ninth installment in the beloved Alex Benedict science fiction mystery series humanity discovers new intelligent life lightyears awayonly for it to disappear without a traceCenturies after a war with the Mutes the first aliens to be encountered by humankind a startling new discovery in the far reaches of the Orion Nebula appears On a planet with conditions favorable to life explorer vessel The Columbia comes across a small town seemingly inhabited by an intelligent species not yet discoveredBut when a highly publicized followup mission is sent to make contact mere months later the entire town has vanished leaving no traceor such is presumed to be the case until Alex Benedict and his archaeological crew show up to investigate Officially their mission is to find concealed artifacts that may have been left behind but the teams real goal is to solve the mystery of how these aliens disappeared so rapidlyand why In turns terrifying and miraculous the answers raise the stakes for every member on board as they look to make their mark on historyNebula Awardwinning author Jack McDevitt whom Stephen King has called the logical heir to Isaac Asimov and Arthur C Clarke brings back Alex Chase and Gabe for another brilliantly crafted science fiction mystery