Search Worlds Without End

A hundred miles north of Alaska, a US Coast Guard vessel discovers a sunken submarine at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean. It has no national identification and doesn't match the records of any known vessel. Deep within, researchers find evidence of a scientific experiment that will rewrite our basic understanding of the human race.

In Atlanta, Dr. Peyton Shaw is awakened by the phone call she has dreaded for years. As the CDC's leading epidemiologist, she's among the first responders to outbreaks around the world. It's a lonely and dangerous job, but it's her life--and she's good at it. This time, she may have met her match.

In Kenya, an Ebola-like pathogen has infected two Americans. One lies at death's door. With the clock ticking, Peyton assembles her team and joins personnel from the Kenyan Ministry of Health and the WHO. What they find in the remote village is beyond their worst fears. As she traces the origin of the pathogen, Peyton begins to believe that there is more to this outbreak--that it may be merely the opening act in a conspiracy with far reaching consequences.

In Berlin, Desmond Hughes awakens in a hotel room with no memory of how he got there or who he is. On the floor, he finds a dead security guard from an international pharmaceutical company. His only clue leads him to Peyton Shaw--a woman who seems to know him, but refuses to tell him how. With the police searching the city for him, Desmond desperately tries to piece together what happened to him. To his shock and horror, he learns that he may be involved in causing the outbreak--and could hold the only key to stopping it.

As the pathogen spreads around the world, Peyton and Desmond race to unravel the conspiracy behind the pandemic--and uncover secrets some want to keep buried. With time running out, they face an unimaginable decision.

In 2003, the first human genome was sequenced. It was a breakthrough of historic proportions, but only one scientist knows the full truth of what lies buried in our DNA. That secret will change everything we thought we knew about our past. And our future.

Dr. Paul Kraus has spent his career searching for what he calls humanity's lost tribes--human ancestors who have gone extinct. When Kraus compares the DNA samples of the lost tribes with our own, he discovers a pattern of changes. A code. He believes he knows what the code is, but the technology doesn't exist to fully decode it. To protect the secret, Kraus hides his work and disappears.

For years, the secret remains buried. When Kraus dies mysteriously, his work is lost forever.

Now the technology exists to finally unravel the code buried in the human genome. The race to find Kraus's research has begun, and one group will do anything to find it.

Dr. Peyton Shaw and her mother have obtained part of Kraus's research--and a cryptic message that could lead to the remaining pieces. They soon learn that finding those pieces may be more dangerous than anyone imagined. But there's no choice. His work is the key to stopping a global conspiracy--and an event that will change humanity forever.

The ultimate secret, buried in the human genome, will change our very understanding of what it means to be human. For Peyton, finding it may come at an incredible price. She must weigh the lives of strangers against those she loves: Desmond Hughes and her mother. With time running out, Peyton makes a fateful choice--one that can never be undone.