Michael Mace says that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time when, in the midst of catastrophe, one thing went right. I guess you could look at it that way. The "catastrophe" was almost like calling dropping an atomic bomb a "catastrophe". Opps! What it was seemed to be was not in any way to have been an accident...not of any dimension. It was a government-sponsored microbial infection that swept through the headquarters of the Beautification Research Project, killing 55 people...no...wait... make that 54, since Michael, the security chief, somehow came back to life, and... that’s not all folks. To start with Michael has acquired the power to tap into all sorts of chipped objects and devises from cellphones to supercomputers. You can probably see where this is headed. He has the ability to read their data instantly and can also alter the records from great distances. He finds that he is the perfect savior for accountant Nina Dozier...Michael’s best friend that genius immunologist Shelby Shrewsberry, had hired. Lota of very smart, yet very dumb people, making dumber choices, in this story. Michael is in love with Nina but before he could confess his love for her, he was killed in the "lab accident". Enter Aleem Sutter, who is the very same gangbanger who abandoned Nina years ago after getting her pregnant.... now he wants back into her life so he can make sure that John, their 13-year-old son, maintains his father’s reputation by joining a gang. No "Father of the Year" award here. Of course, Aleem is no match for Michael, who faces an altogether more powerful adversary: Durand Calaphas, another genius who works for the Internal Security Agency, and knows all about that microbial catastrophe and still holds a grudge from an episode years ago that branded his older brother, virologist Dr. Gifford Calaphas, a traitor. So many 'baddies" to try to keep up with and they are all mega geniuses. Dean Koontz is a master storyteller. I've read his books and watched movies made from them for more years than I'm going to share here...his stories and characters almost always "work". In this one he particularly shines at providing downscaled dialogue for Aleem and his peeps...otherwise the average reader would be lost...and provides memorable portraits of the many "walk-on" characters. The actual plot is another matter. There is just way too much happening with way too many people that it's happening to. I gave it 3 stars...after all it WAS Dean Koontz...it wasn't a bad story...and I really, really wanted to love it. I did like parts of it, but I believe it may have been more out of loyalty to this author who has given us From the Corner of His Eye, Tick Tock, The Odd Thomas books, and so many, many others, than it was for this actual book itself. Dean Koontz fans will certainly want to give it a try. ( )

I'm a big Dean Koontz fan and love his books! This is the first physical book in our new house and I enjoyed every page! At first. I thought it was going to be a serial but it had a satisfying ending and as always, the good guys win and I can sleep safely and without nightmares!!! ( )