A heart-shattering loss leads to a reality-shattering discovery . . .

Every bureaucracy has a rhythm, even the Department of Extraterrestrial and Alien Defense (D.E.A.D.). Dr. Greg Schorn has gotten used to that rhythm: go on assignment, take down a government-created alien hybrid, write up a report, rinse, and repeat.

Not that there's no danger. Rounding up the escapees comes with more than a little risk. But Greg trusts the people around him, especially Mitch Haldron. At the D.E.A.D. Mitch has pulled him out of the fire more times than he can count.

But everything is about to change: Mitch, solid, dependable, downright boring Mitch, has a secret.

A secret that is about to come into the light.

A secret that will blow apart Greg Schorn's world . . .