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Start giftingWelcome, Chaos
This audiobook uses AI narration.
We’re taking steps to make sure AI narration is transparent.
Learn moreWhat would happen to the precarious balance of power if scientists could extend life for centuries? If one power bloc had biological protection against radiation and the other did not? Whose thumb would press the button first?
When Lyle Taney took leave from her teaching job to live high in the mountains, researching the ways of eagles, she was just planning to write her next book. Lasater was an unscrupulous, skilled operative who thought he could maneuver her as he pleased. He believed women were incapable of making ethical or moral decisions—and he was wrong. When the obscure government agent from an anonymous department tried to force Lyle to spy on her mysterious neighbors, she resisted. But the first step had been taken, involving her in a life-and-death struggle.
Kate Wilhelm (1928–2018) was the bestselling author of dozens of novels and short-story collections. Among her novels are the popular courtroom thrillers featuring attorney Barbara Holloway. Her other works include the science fiction classic Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang.
Johanna Ward (a.k.a. Kate Reading) is an Audie Award–winning narrator and has received numerous Earphones Awards from AudioFile magazine. She is also a theater actor in the Washington, DC, area and has been a member of Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company since 1987. Her work onstage has been recognized by the Helen Hayes Awards Society, among others. She and her husband live in Hyattsville, Maryland, with their two children.
Reviews
“Enhanced by Wilhelm’s spare, limpid prose: a quiet…serious blend of SF, morality play, and global politics.”
“A compelling psychological drama…poses questions that have a clear relevance to today’s world.”
“An excellent and thought-provoking read.”
“Johanna Ward reads this genre-crossing novel with panache and aplomb…Ward’s tense tone and excellent pacing build suspense as the story’s scope broadens.”
“A brilliant tour de force…serious science fiction skillfully blended with elements of the suspense novel. Behind the narrative loom the questions raised in the Faust legend and in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein: are the dangers of unlocking nature’s secrets so great that limits should be imposed on the inquiring mind? And who is to decide?”
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