A blood-curdling, edge-of-your seat read. The only reason I'm not giving it the full five stars is it's an installment in a longer story. I'll withhold judgment until I see how the the entire story holds up.

Jane Hawk is an FBI agent on leave to solve the mystery of the suicide of her husband, which she is sure was actually a murder. What she uncovers is a believable and terrifying conspiracy by the rich and powerful to obtain and wield ever more power.

The story exists on the fringes of biotechnology, but you really believe it could happen, or that it may already be happening. Nightmare stuff.

I'm going to jump directly into the next book in the series, which I don't often do.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Having read further into the series, be aware that Koontz's right-wing politics come more and more into play. The villains are evil, wealthy, snooty, liberal, utopian elites. "Do-gooders" who want to improve the world by culling the population in certain ways. They are not wealthy oil-baron elites motivated by greed. If your personal demon is George Soros, you'll probably agree with his points. If instead, your bad guy is Charles Koch, you'll disagree. Personally, I become more annoyed by the series the more Koontz foists his politics on me, but I can't deny that these are well-constructed thrillers.

If you can still enjoy the books knowing that the author is spinning right-wing conspiracy theories, go ahead and read them. If not, you might want to give these a pass. For me, I'm going to keep reading and ride the wave of excitement even though I disagree with the premise. If I hit a point in the series where I can no longer go on with it, I'll come back and edit.